Pharmacy jar (syrup jug)

Slender, rimmed base upturned pear-shaped bowl slender neck, splayed rim. The short pouring lip is looped. The broad, flat, curving handle fits to the neck and the top of the body. The surface is decorated with symmetrical stylized acanthus leaves, painted in white, green and orange against a blue background, contoured with manganese. The handle has green and yellow vertical stripes. There is an inscription in a scroll under the handle: SY.DENDIVA. There is a similar piece in the collection of the Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza, marked with R° and with an inscription S Y°. DI. BETTONICA. The piece described above bears a close relationship to the above analogue, and to the syrup jugs with Cat. No. 82, although its neck is more slender and the inscription is under the handle instead of the lip it has no maker's sign. On the other hand,the shape and the colours, as well as the decoration suggest that it was made in the Montelupo workshop.