106. Andrew H.S. Mazzaschi, albarello-shaped jar

106. Andrew H.S. Mazzaschi, albarello-shaped jar

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Mazzaschi, see item 103.

White stoneware clay, pale green/dark red glaze; base left unglazed. Weight: 680 g (1.5 lb). Rim diameter: 5.6 cm (2-3/16 in); maximum diameter: 9.3 cm (3-5/8 in); foot ring diameter: 5.4 cm (2-1/8 in). Height: 15.7 cm (6-1/4 in).

The shape was inspired by the albarello. Albarelli date from the fifteenth century and were traditionally made of majolica. They were used by apothecaries for dry-goods storage and had a parchment or leather lid.

This sits on the base of the foot ring. Both on the inside and the outside, the foot is about 0,6 cm (1/4 in) high. The artist’s mark, his initials, AHSM, inside a square, was stamped inside this area. Above the foot ring, the walls quickly rise in a convex arc to the maximum diameter of 9.3 cm (3-5/8 in) at the first break 3.5 cm (1-3/8 in) above the base. From there the walls move in a concave arc to the next break at the shoulders, 11 cm (4-7/8 in) above the base. The diameter at the shoulders is 8.8 cm (3-1/2 in). Within this concave area, the narrowest diameter is 8.2 cm (3-1/4 in); it lies 7.8 cm (3-1/8 in) from the base, roughly at the midpoint of the pot. From the shoulders the walls slant inward at a straight angle to the neck, 13.8 cm (5-1/2 in) above the base. The diameter at the bottom the neck is 6 cm (2-3/8 in). The walls of the neck slant slightly inward in a straight line as they rise to the rim. The finish on the pot is smooth.

This was glazed in a copper-containing glaze that is pale green where thinly applied but self-reduces where thick, turning a dark scarlet. The interior of the pot is white. The foot was left unglazed.

The pot has a nice heft, and the concave arc in the middle makes it easy to hold, perhaps a consideration in the designing of a small jar that would be handled frequently and possibly stored on a high shelf. If several albarelli were stored side by side, the concavity would give room for fingers to slide between the jars to pick one up; straight abutting sides would make it more difficult to pull one jar out. If so, the shape represents a nice adaptation of form to function.

An intriguing shape, with its combination of convex and concave arcs and straight lines, made even more eye-catching by the random pattern of green and red colors.

Purchased at the annual spring sale at Feet of Clay Pottery, Brookline, Massachusetts, May 2021.