CERAMICS COLLECTION| CERAMICS COLLECTION |
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ACTIVITIES:
Head of the Collection: M.A. Vedrana Gjukic-Bender, Museum Consultant The collection comprises 250 decorative art objects made of ceramics (faience, stone-ware, majolica) and some eighty china items. A group of 116 ceramic apothecaries' jars of different shape and size dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries represents the most significant part of the collection. They once belonged to the Domus Christi Pharmacy, a public pharmacy which was built in 1420 next to the poorhouse and hospital of the same name. In 1761, the pharmacy became the ownership of Vokativo and Saric whose heirs sold this valuable collection to the town in 1914.The faience jars originate from potter's workshops scattered throughout Italy (Savona, Nove, Florence, Faenza, Naples, Palermo, Capodimonte), and were largely directly ordered for the above pharmacy. The majority of jars, therefore, bear a characteristic sign - a medallion with the figure of Jesus Christ who is carrying the cross (Gesu Portacroce). In addition to these jars - arbarelle and brocche, there is a group of decorative vases that were made in the workshops in Castelli, Faenza, Naples, and Capodimonte. Painted in cheerful colours, these vases feature allegorical pictures or medallions of Hippocrates and Galen.
Copyright MDC
& Carnet
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The apothecaries' collection is largely displayed in the southern wing of the Rector's Palace, in the rooms of the mezzanine floor. The display also included decorative vases from the well-know potter's workshops from Savona, Ginori and Delphi dating from the 18th century, as well as 19th-century Chinese and Japanese vases. Due to their exceptional artistic and decorative value, these vases adorn the salons in the Museum's ambience display. Currently plans are being made to display tableware (tea, coffee and dinner services), as well as decorative items that were manufactured in the famous workshops and factories of Germany, France, Italy, Austria, and the Czech Republic, ranging in date from the 17th to the 19th centuries, in order to present a complete picture of this small community which has always had high appreciation of art.