A polychrome maiolica ewer with cover. Castelli manufacture, half 16th century

A polychrome maiolica ewer with cover. Castelli manufacture, half 16th century
h cm 33,5
Blue cobalt, yellow antimony, orange yellow, green copper, tin white polychrome majolica . Ovoid body with cylindrical neck and everted rim, ribbon-like handle ending in a curl. Spout in the form of a neck and dragon's head connected to the body of the jug, with plumage realised with rapid touches of manganese brown brushstrokes. Lowered domed lid with spinning top grip decorated with curled leaves on an orange background. Body decorated on both sides with profile portraits of a man with broad-necked palender and a woman with blouse, corset and gathered hair, both facing the spout and silhouetted against a hilly landscape with cloudy sky within poly-lobed reserves on an orange background decorated with leafy scroll motifs in shades of blue. Below the portraits is a cartouche with pharmaceutical writing in capital letters: AQ. D. FINOCCHIO. White back and handle with blue decoration in rapid strokes and serpentine lines. Defects.