Cleveland Museum of Art

Albarello Jar with an Aphorism

Date

900s

Medium

Earthenware with underglaze decoration

Culture

Central Asia, Samarkand, Samanid period (819–1005)

Department

Islamic Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The albarello was a jar designed to hold ointments and drugs for pharmacists. They were produced in the Middle East and Spain, as well as late medieval and Renaissance Italy. Albarellos are usually painted with floral, vegetal, or geometric designs. Arabic inscriptions are less common but here the elegant text reads: “Modesty [comes] from faith, and faith [comes] from Paradise,” attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. The jar's Arabic inscription written in Eastern Kufic script.

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