1501

Drug Jar (Albarello)

Artist/maker unknown

This large jar was made for a pharmacy to store ingredients for medicines (in this case "common seed"). The jar belongs to a famous set of ceramic vessels, all decorated with a stereotyped image of a Black man richly dressed in European clothing. Many Black people lived in Europe in the early 1500s, though not necessarily by their own choosing; some wealthy Europeans enslaved African men, women, and children to serve in their households.

The emblem on the jar does not represent a specific individual but is instead based on an image of a "moor’s head." This racialized stereotype of the head of an African man had a long history of use in Europe from the Middle Ages, sometimes appearing on family coats of arms. Its use here may have related to the sign of the pharmacy, or to the coat of arms or family name of its proprietor.