Francesco Vanni, Orcio

The large jar, which came from the Spezieria dell’Ospedale della Scala in Siena, was produced in Impruneta by the kiln worker Francesco Vanni in 1661, as attested by the inscriptions engraved above and below the coat of arms of the Sienese pharmacy: “FECE FRANCESCO VANNI”, “MDCLXI”. The pharmaceutical use of the jar is confirmed by the hole in the base, where a metal pourer was inserted to allow the contents to flow out. The Tuscan town of Impruneta already possessed at that time a consolidated experience in the realization of large manufactured articles in red cotto, often covered with green and brown spotted engobes and glazes, of which a wide and diffused production is known.