Featuring tulips and a grotesque head in profile, this jar was designed to store herbs, powders, and other dry medicines that would have been protected from spoilage by a piece of parchment secured around the opening. The container was probably part of an order for 4,152 vessels placed by an apothecary in 1545 with Masséot Abaquesne, who ran a large workshop with his son, Laurent.
Mrs. Green Rainbow, Winnebago, NE; Sterling Whitesnake, Winnebago, NE., until 1964; James Howard, Oklahoma, 1964–ca. 1976; Ralph T. Coe, Santa Fe, NM, ca. 1976–(d.) 2010; Ralph T. Coe Foundation for the Arts, 2010–2011