Albarello with Two Rabbits (1300s): Art, History and Details

Albarello with Two Rabbits (1300s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This albarello, a cylindrical jar used to store dry medicinal herbs, exemplifies the wares of Paterna, near Valencia. Its decoration is dominated by the crest of the Luna family, Lords of Paterna, under which two rabbits are shown nibbling on a grapevine. These vessels were commonly used in spice stores and hospital pharmacies.

Object facts

• Title: Albarello with Two Rabbits
• Date: 1300s
• Culture: Spain, Paterna, 14th century
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica)
• Dimensions: Overall: 22.3 x 9.9 cm (8 3/4 x 3 7/8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Gothic
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1943.276

Collection credit

In memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Humphreys, gift of their daughter Helen

Further reading listed by the museum

• Foote, Helen. "A Majolica Albarello from Paterna." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 30, no. 7 (September 1943): 120-121 Published as 1942.276
• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Jenifer Neils. The World of Ceramics: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Museum in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1982.
• Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.