Heliotrope jug with spout
Ca. 1610. Enamel, Bloodstone, Gold, Pearls, Silver gilt Room 079BBelongs to a set of two ewers with accompanying basins, part of the Treasure: O24 to O27. Like its counterpart, this jug has a deep, bell-shaped body with a hemispherical base, from which a spout with a sloping upper plane emerges. The mount takes the form of a grille supporting an S-shaped handle with a mascaron, leaves and scrolled designs. There are also enamelled gold appliqués of leaves and flowers, over which pearls have been threaded, some of which are now missing. Its size is suggestive of what are known as “spouted jugs”, typical in the Spanish-speaking world.
A spouted jug made by Pedro de Zubieta, dating from 1585-1587 and now at the church of San Juan Bautista in Marchena, Seville, has a similar body profile, although the moulding is located on the upper third of the body, rather than defining the base and sides of the vessel, as with the Prado’s examples.
The state of the work in the 19th century can be seen through the photography of Juan Laurent y Minier, "Vase agate sardoine, montures d’or avec émaux et pierreries, XVIe siècle, règne de Henri II", c. 1879, Museo del Prado, HF0835/31 (L. Arbeteta, in press).