PB103 Mustard

Back of extant jar. 

Front. A Venice Maiolica albarello, indistinctly dated 156(?), workshop of Maestro Domenego da Venezia. Sotheby’s. 

”of tall cylindrical form, slightly waisted with a flared rim and foot, the front with a label inscribed 'Mostarda.', flanked by leafy branches and putti heads, the reverse painted with a horse, a swan, trophies of war and instruments reserved on a blue Sgraffito ground, the underside with incised AB monogram,

approximately 37.6cm., 14 3/4 in. high“

I didn’t copy all of this design. I focused on the front as I wasn’t too keen on the armour, horse and musical instruments. This is a preliminary test for The Mostarda project (tm). Pretty happy with the colours but I’m wary of large scale glaze application in the next one.

Not 100% happy with the ‘redgum’ colour along the rim but I am glad the colour stuck. Further experiments are required to find the right red. I avoided the greens because I don’t think I have quite the right green at the moment. I thought I’d try autumn colours instead. The primary contrast worked well I think as did the yellow+watered down black shading on the scroll.

Due to the lighting the background looks black but it is actually a rather pleasing dark blue. Highly likely that I’ll use this on the final piece.