pilgrim bottle, Orazio Fontana

Glass pieces produced by the Venetian glassmakers at Salviati & C. were the perfect souvenirs for travelers in the late 19th and early 20th century. The delicate, glistening forms brought together centuries-old traditions and contemporary innovations that could be displayed in homes to demonstrate culture and taste.

The curving white and gold decorations on this Bohemian glass vase are often described as arabesque, defined as “an ornamental design consisting of intertwined flowing lines, originally found in Arabic or Moorish decoration.” Although this word is potentially considered neutral today, the popularity of arabesque decorations is tied to Orientalism, the stereotyped and colonially influenced representation of Eastern cultures by white Europeans.

The rounded body and elongated spout of this maiolica bottle is meant to reference a pilgrim flask, a container for drinking water usually made of leather or a dried gourd and carried by religious travelers on journeys called pilgrimages. This ceramic version is too large to be carried on a pilgrimage. Instead, it was used to decant wine as part of an elaborate dinner service in 16th-century Duchy of Urbino, located in what is now central Italy.

The rounded body and elongated spout of this maiolica bottle is meant to reference a pilgrim flask, a container for drinking water usually made of leather or a dried gourd and carried by religious travelers on journeys called pilgrimages. This ceramic version is too large to be carried on a pilgrimage. Instead, it was used to decant wine as part of an elaborate dinner service in 16th-century Duchy of Urbino, located in what is now central Italy.

Maiolica ceramics are noted for their brilliantly colored surfaces, created by tin oxide glazes. The Spencer’s pilgrim bottle features sky blue, golden yellow, and cornhusk green. The two faces show an episode from the ancient myth of Proserpina, who ate six pomegranate seeds while in the underworld and was thus destined to live there every fall and winter for eternity while her mother Ceres mourned and made the plants wither. On one side, the Roman God of the underworld, Pluto, whisks away a startled Proserpina in his chariot. On the other side, sea nymphs and nude goddesses on nearby cliffs respond with alarm to the abduction. On both sides of the jar we see the frightened Proserpina in the dark underworld entrance, formed by the gaping mouths of horned creatures. The ancients used the myth of Proserpina to explain the seasons, while Orazio Fontana used the subject in a more decorative fashion.