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jug

Object NameJug with Coat of Arms of a Medici Pope
Made FromGlass, Enamel, Gilding
Date1513-1534
Place MadeItaly, Venice
TechniqueBlown, applied, tooled
SizeOverall H: 19.8 cm, W: 17.1 cm, Diam (max): 17.1 cm; Rim Diam (max): 9.65 cm
Accession Number2005.3.28
Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Houghton Endowment Fund
Curatorial Area(s)
Exhibitions
Medieval Glass for Popes, Princes, and Peasants
Beyond Venice: Glass in Venetian Style, 1500-1750
On ViewEuropean Gallery
Interpretive Notes
The coat of arms indicates these objects belonged to a pope from the powerful Medici family, either Leo X (1513–1521) or Clement VII (1523–1534). The Medici were the ruling family of Tuscany, Italy, from the mid-1400s until the early-1700s.
Physical DescriptionJug with Coat of Arms of Medici Pope. Colorless, translucent blue. Blown; applied, tooled. Globular body with waisted neck rising to widened rim with applied lip wrap tooled to form circular opening indented with pointed spout, and flat base with applied foot-ring and pronounced kick with pontil mark. Solid, ear-shaped handle applied to bulb with large glue-bit extending below joint, with tip profiled with pincers; handle joins wrapped band, both in translucent blue glass, around neck about 1.25 cm below rim.

Body is decorated, on each side, with square web pattern in red enamel filled with yellow, blue, and white enamel dots. Front shows coat of arms of Medici family of Florence, crowned by papal tiara with crossed keys, rendered in yellow, red, blue, and white enamel paints. Neck is decorated with gilded band around rim and with minute traces of gilding on top of blue wrap. Shoulder is decorated with frieze of gilding scratched into lozenges adorned with blue enamel dots. Frieze is bordered, above and below, with red enamel dots. Back of handle and foot-ring are cold-painted with bronze color; former is also adorned with scale pattern in red.
Provenance
Source Christopher Fish - 2003
Former Collection Private Collection in The Netherlands
Former Collection Fritz Biemann
Acquired from Christopher Fish. Formerly in the collection of Fritz Biemann, Zurich, and a private collection in the Netherlands.
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