English and European Ceramics and Glass - 23rd May 2017
Lot 90
An Italian maiolica berettino albarello dated 1592
Estimate £400 - £600 | Hammer £850
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Description
An Italian maiolica berettino albarello dated 1592, of dumbbell form, painted in blue with a scrolled cartouche inscribed 'diapenidion', within scrolling leaf tendrils on a pale blue ground, beneath the banner with the initials CG either side of a lion rampant above a single green leaf, restored to the base, 21.5cm.
Penidium was made by melting sugar over a low heat and drawing it out into strands. Now more commonly known as Barley Sugar, it was used as a form of cough sweet.
Cf. Victoria and Albert Museum, Accession No. 5402-1859, for a very similar example dated 1593 and notes attributing such jars to Rome.