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Decorative Jug from Gambatesa

This clay jug belonged to my grandmother Nunziata DiRenzo, who before her death gave it to my mother.  But I do not know the history of this jug.  Angelo Abiuso (Geneva) thinks that it could have been used indoors for either wine or water, or that it may have been purely decorative; in either case he regards it as an example of mass culture in poor taste.  The jug is fully glazed except for the base it stands on.  The jug is about 20 cm. high and 13 cm. wide [8 x 5 inches].  The agricultural water jug from Gambatesa only reaches the height of the neck of this jug.

The figures on the jug are two birds, a worm and a snake.  And below them is a flower, a little like the stone flower that was used to decorate doorways in Gambatesa.  As the photograph below shows, the figures on the other side of the jug are the same except for the slight variations found in hand-formed decorations: there are two birds, a worm, a snake that extends from one side of the jug to the other, and below that a flower.

The view looking down into the top of the jug shows two 3-pronged thorns (They are not attached to one another), and below them there is a series of holes similar to those in Gambatesa's agricultural water jug.

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Last revised: 12 November 2005 : 2005-11-12 by Robert [Wesley] Angelo.

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