Decorated Terracotta Traveler's Flask from the 1800s. It features a round shape, empty in the center, with a white background and abstract decorations painted in shades of blue, ochre, and green. The decoration is only on the external side of the flask. Originating from Central Italy, it is in a good state of preservation.
These small terracotta flasks were specifically made to contain water or other liquids necessary for quenching the thirst of pilgrims during their travels. Relatively small in size, with a lenticular shape, they could be secured to the belt or carried over the shoulder using a cord passed around the flask and threaded through four handles or perforated grips on the sides.
The essential tool for the traveler was soon decorated and enriched with new forms, both in the shape of the flask and in its typology, eventually finding particular forms such as flasks with empty centers which, being equipped with a base, suggest a more decorative than functional purpose.
The decoration also evolved from primitive graffiti with geometric or floral motifs, to enamel coloring, or painted decoration according to the usual models of the period, or, in the more popular examples, of an abstract nature as in the case of flasks with abstract, almost random decoration in which we like to think that the decorator simply had colors to use or finish.
Height: 21.3 cm - Width: 18.5 cm - Depth: 5.3 cm
Item A1061b
