Objets croisés: Albarelli as Vessels of Mediation Within and Beyond the Spezieria

Abstract

This study argues that ceramic and metal vessels used to house spices and aromatics in the fifteenth century are best approached as composite objects, pursuing the multiple ways travel could be literally and metaphorically embedded in these objects: through motifs, function, contents, techniques, and materials. Building on studies that understand travel and movement as part of an object’s meaning, as well as a category of value in itself, this study proposes the term composite objects or “objets croises” to reflect the criss-crossed nature of many early modern objects. Taking drug jars (albarelli) and associated metal and ceramic vessels as a case study, it follows the mobility of these objects from the pharmacy (spezieria) to the elite Italian Renaissance interior; central to their value and function was their composite nature and their associative multisensorial and social practices. The decorations on these vessels reveal complex patterns of imitation, borrowing, and translation, underscoring how persons, practices, and objects are intertwined, affected by, and contribute to intercultural dialogues and processes. Certain types of early modern objects such as ceramics and metalware are particularly useful examples of how travel and movement were intrinsically part of an object’s value, but these artefacts often deny a fixed category of geographic origin. The contemporary language used to describe the provenance of these objects can often be just as misleading as informative, underscoring a need for a close scrutiny of the objects themselves in combination with archival documents and the social exchanges they engendered within and beyond the pharmacy.