Albarello

Tin-glazed earthenware drug jar or albarello with decoration of stepped pyramid-like forms (vertical instead of horizontal), alternating in blue and orange, with blue scrolls in between. This jar was probably made in Southwark. Drug jars contained medicines, ointments and cosmetic preparations and would have been bought at an apothecary's shop. You could either keep the pot after the contents were finished and use it as a container, or you could return it to the shop in exchange for a small sum. It would have been sealed with a parchment lid, tied on with string just under the rim.