Italian Maiolica Albarello

A fine blue and white maiolica albarello, of tall cylindrical form with slightly waisted sides, the front decorated with an architectural landscape showing a fortified town by a river, with trees and rolling hills in the background. The reverse inscribed and dated 1738 in manganese script. The rim and base with concentric ochre and manganese bands, framing the central painted scene.
Albarelli of this type were used in apothecaries for storing dry drugs or ointments. The date firmly places this example within the vibrant production of Savona and Ligurian potteries in the 18th century, where architectural and landscape painting in blue and white was a celebrated hallmark. The survival of a fully dated and inscribed piece makes this an especially valuable record of the period.