円筒形の陶胎に白い錫釉をかけ、胴に薬種番号「XXVIII（28）」を紺色の顔料で手描きした薬種商用の壺（アルバレロ）。マヨリカとは錫を含む不透明な白釉をかけて焼いた陶器の呼び名で、その白い下地に絵付けを施す技法はルネサンス期のイタリアで大きく発展しました。アルバレロという円筒形の壺自体はもとはイスラム圏やスペインの薬種壺に由来し、ファエンツァやデルータなど中部イタリアの窯業地で量産されて、修道院薬局や町の薬屋の棚に並べられたと考えられています。 胴のくびれは、棚に並べた壺を取り出しやすくするための機能的な形状です。イタリア、18世紀。

A cylindrical apothecary jar (albarello) with a white tin glaze, hand-painted in dark blue with the drug number "XXVIII (28)" on the body. Maiolica refers to earthenware fired under an opaque white tin glaze, a technique that flourished as painters decorated that white ground with pigment during the Italian Renaissance. The albarello form itself traces back to Islamic and Spanish pharmacy jars, and was later produced in quantity at central Italian centers such as Faenza and Deruta, thought to have lined the shelves of monastery pharmacies and town apothecaries. Its waisted profile is a functional shape, designed to be gripped easily when pulled from a row on a shelf. Italy, 18th century.