- Title
- Apothecary Jar (Albarelo)
- Date Made
- circa 1750-1800
- Medium
- Tin-glazed earthenware
- Dimensions
- 9 3/4 × 4 1/4 in. (24.77 × 10.8 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2015.69.6
- Collecting Area
- Latin American Art
- Curatorial Notes
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Mexican city of Puebla became a production center for fine earthen-ware and tiles later known as "Talavera poblana." The earliest Puebla majolica (tin-glazed earthenware) shows Spanish and Hispano-Islamic influences. However, Puebla is best known for the Chinese-inspired blue-and-white majolica it began producing in the second quarter of the seventeenth century, which remained popular throughout the eighteenth century. The importation of Asian goods to the Spanish colonies via the Manila Galleon greatly impacted the development of Talavera poblana. The apothecary jar was a common shape used by Spanish and Mexican pharmacies to store herbs and ointments; it was likely kept on a shelf and covered with cloth or leather.
- Provenance
Charles Rodney Sadleir, Cuernavaca, Mexico; Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco, November 3, 2003, lot 2531; Ronald A. Belkin, Long Beach, California, 2003; LACMA, 2015.
