H.: 22,4 cm

Provenance: Bonham's London, 15 June 2016, lot 9. (sold GBP 6.875,00)

Ref.: Museum Prinsenhof Delft, The Netherlands, object number R 656, for a comparable example. 

Cass:tra may refer to a preparation derived from the cassia tree.

In 1980, archaeological excavations of a waste heap behind the house of the potter Orazio Pompei in Castelli conclusively identified the celebrated Orsini-Colonna pharmacy jars as products of the Pompei kilns. The discoveries were published by Marco Ricci et al., Le Maioliche Cinquecentesche di Castelli (1989).

The two albarelli offered in this sale (lot 943 and 944) correspond to the authors’ Group IV, examples of which are illustrated as catalogue numbers 248–251. It has been suggested that Group IV may in fact predate the other identified groups and, if so, represents a short-lived production phase that even precedes the activity of Orazio Pompei himself. Related kiln fragments are illustrated on p. 61, pl. 6, figs. 15–16.

Comparable albarelli are preserved in major collections, including the Musée national de Céramique, Sèvres; the Musée du Louvre, Paris (Giacomotti 1974, nos. 257–260); and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Rackham 1977, nos. 255–256).

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