Getty Museum

Pilgrim Flask with Marine Scenes

Date

about 1565–1570

Medium

Tin-glazed earthenware

Culture

Italian

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

The design of this ceramic pilgrim flask, with its tall tapering neck, screw cover, and flat oval body, reflects the influence of metal pilgrim flasks, which in turn were patterned after the dried gourds travelers used to carry drinking water. The side loops above the horned masks on the sides and the holes cut from either side of the base would never have been used to suspend the Museum's flask; they were retained as decoration and a reminder of the vessel's earlier function. Marine scenes decorate both sides of the flask: one of a triton abducting a nereid and one of two fighting tritons. This exceptionally rich and varied palette is typical of ceramics from the Fontana workshop. The son of a famous potter from Castel Durante, Orazio Fontana started his own workshop in 1565 in Urbino, helping to establish that area as the most important place for maiolica production in the late 1500s.

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