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The Fall or Temptation: C.2223-1928

An image of Pharmacy jar
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Current Location: In storage

Titles

The Fall or Temptation

Maker(s)

Factory: Chiodo-Peirano factory (Probably)
Painter: Ratti, Giovanni Agostino (Possibly)

Entities

Categories

Description

Maiolica pharmacy jar, painted in polychrome with The Fall.

Earthenware, tin-glazed overall. Painted in blue, olive-green, yellow, and brown, outlined in very dark manganese-purple.
Albarello with slight swellings above and below the waist.
The front is decorated with The Fall. The Tree of Knowledge entwined by the Serpent is on the left. Eve stands beside the Tree, reaching up into its branches with her right hand, and, with her left, hands a fruit to Adam, who is seated further to the right on a grassy mound. A bird flies overhead. On the back, there is a ruined arcade with flowering creepers growing on it. The neck and foot are each encircled by a narrow blue band. The base is marked with a lighthouse in manganese-purple filled in with blue.

Notes

History note: Mr Richards, Nottingham, from whom purchased on 5 November 1906 by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Height: 16.8 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

18th Century, first half
Circa 1720 CE - 1735 CE

Note

Pharmacy jars with analogous decoration are attributed to the Chiodo-Peirano factory in Savona on the basis of their light¬house marks. The style of figure painting has been associated with Giovanni Agostino Ratti (b. Savona 1699, d. Genoa 1775), who signed dishes at Savona in 1720 and 1721 but was not a maiolica painter by trade.

School or Style

Rococo

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration composed of high-temperature colours ( in blue, olive-green, yellow, and brown, outlined in very dark manganese-purple)
Widest Part Diameter 10.0 cm
Base Diameter 7.8 cm
Rim Diameter 9.0 cm

Materials used in production

Tin-glaze
Earthenware

Techniques used in production

Throwing : Earthenware, tin-glazed overall. Painted in blue, olive-green, yellow, and brown, outlined in very dark manganese-purple.
Tin-glazing

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.2223-1928
Primary reference Number: 73263
Old object number: 2670

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 30 April 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "The Fall or Temptation" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/73263 Accessed: 2025-12-05 21:49:24

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/73263 |title=The Fall or Temptation |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 21:49:24|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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