{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O307807"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O307807/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AG5246/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AG5246/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AG5246","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HT4866","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HT4867","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HT4868","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HT4869","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HT4870","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HT4873","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HT4871","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2015HT4872","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019MD0435","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O307807/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O307807","accessionNumber":"C.148-1951","objectType":"Drug jar","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Masseot Abaquesne's name appeared for the first time in archives (Rouen, Normandy) in 1526: He lived in Rouen and was called “emballeur” which means that he dealt with packaging all sorts of goods in Rouen harbor. He married Marion Durand, daughter of a potter. In 1538, he becomes godfather of Matiot Le Court, son of a stained-glass painter: He was then referred to as an “emballeur et esmailleur en terre”. He has obviously begun working as a ceramist.\r\nIn 1542, Anne de Montmorency, constable of France, commissioned a pavement for his castle at Ecouen from Abaquesne who created thousands of tiles bearing the arms of his commissioner and his wife, Madeleine de Savoie. The V&A displays some of them. Abaquesne hires potters (Pierre Roullart in 1543) to help him and must have had a quite important workshop in Sainte-Sever at Rouen, the potter’s area. \r\nIn 1545, he was awarded a contract to supply Pierre Dubosc, an apothecary from Rouen, with thousands of drug jars and jugs. In 1546, Abaquesne was in Paris where he seems to have had another workshop (he hired Jehan Godin to help him make a stove). In 1551, he delivered another pavement for Ecouen with patterns close to the designs of Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau (scrolls, arabesques, sphinges).\r\nSome other tiles, maybe wall tiles, can be attributed to him: three panels depicted The Flood (Renaissance museum, Ecouen, France) and two depicted Marcus Curtius and Mucius Scaevola (Condé museum, Chantilly, France). \r\nHis last well-documented commission is the pavement of the chapel of La Bastie d’Urfé (1557) made for Claude d’Urfé, the king’s ambassador at the Trent Council in Italy. Abaquesne died before 1564 as his wife is called widow in an archive dated 1564. \r\n\r\nStyle\r\nWe don’t know where and with whom Abaquesne was trained as a potter and how he learned to make tin-glaze earthenwares. It is possible he trained abroad, in Italy or in Antwerp, or worked with Italian or Dutch ceramists in France. His work betrays the influence both of Italian and Netherlandish tin-glazed earthenwares. That’s why many Netherlandish pavements have been attributed to him (château de Polisy, Chapelle sainte-Croix, cathédrale de Langres ; Château de Fère-en-Tardenois ; tiles from Colombier de Boos ;  tiles from Logis du Roi au Havre…). \r\nPortraiture is a common motif on Italian drug jars at the time. The little waves on the neck and bottom part can be seen on some Netherlandish wares as well (see C.302-1938) and their shape is also quite similar (see. 1093-1905). The portrait is roughly painted with large brushstrokes.\r\nHow can we make the difference between a French and Netherlandish item?  Their clay and glaze are not similar (see Dumortier’s book). The glaze of Antwerp pieces is whiter than Abaquesne’s ones. Chemical analyses could tell us more about that.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Drug jar of tin-glazed earthenware painted in blue, yellow, green, brown and orange. Cylindrical 'Arbarello' form. Round the middle is a portrait of a bearded man and floral scrolls with tulip flowers. Blue-dash pattern round the neck and foot.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Abaquesne, Masseot","id":"AUTH335971"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28690"},"note":"Masséot Abaquesne (around 1500 to about 1564) was a French Renaissance ceramist. Abaquesne is known both for his tiles and his pharmaceutical drug jars. His output was on a relatively large scale and his workshop provided wares for wealthy and noble men such as the constable of France. "}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Workshop of Masseot Abaquesne","id":"A11400"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"x33306"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"tin glaze","id":"AAT233436"},{"text":"earthenware","id":"x29356"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Tin-glazed earthenware painted with enamels","categories":[{"text":"Ceramics","id":"THES48982"},{"text":"Earthenware","id":"THES48964"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"CER","id":"THES48594"},"images":["2006AG5246","2015HT4866","2015HT4867","2015HT4868","2015HT4869","2015HT4870","2015HT4873","2015HT4871","2015HT4872","2019MD0435"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"137","id":"THES49876"},"free":"","case":"W1","shelf":"3","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Drug jar","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Rouen","id":"x32531"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1544 - 1550","earliest":"1539-01-01","latest":"1550-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by Stuart Gerald Davis","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"27.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"13.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Masseot Abaquesne's name appeared for the first time in archives (Rouen, Normandy) in 1526: He lived in Rouen and was called “emballeur” which means that he dealt with packaging all sorts of goods in Rouen harbor. He married Marion Durand, daughter of a potter. In 1538, he becomes godfather of Matiot Le Court, son of a stained-glass painter: He was then referred to as an “emballeur et esmailleur en terre”. He has obviously begun working as a ceramist.\r\nIn 1542, Anne de Montmorency, constable of France, commissioned a pavement for his castle at Ecouen from Abaquesne who created thousands of tiles bearing the arms of his commissioner and his wife, Madeleine de Savoie. The V&A displays some of them. Abaquesne hires potters (Pierre Roullart in 1543) to help him and must have had a quite important workshop in Sainte-Sever at Rouen, the potter’s area. \r\nIn 1545, he was awarded a contract to supply Pierre Dubosc, an apothecary from Rouen, with thousands of drug jars and jugs. In 1546, Abaquesne was in Paris where he seems to have had another workshop (he hired Jehan Godin to help him make a stove). In 1551, he delivered another pavement for Ecouen with patterns close to the designs of Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau (scrolls, arabesques, sphinges).\r\nSome other tiles, maybe wall tiles, can be attributed to him: three panels depicted The Flood (Renaissance museum, Ecouen, France) and two depicted Marcus Curtius and Mucius Scaevola (Condé museum, Chantilly, France). \r\nHis last well-documented commission is the pavement of the chapel of La Bastie d’Urfé (1557) made for Claude d’Urfé, the king’s ambassador at the Trent Council in Italy. Abaquesne died before 1564 as his wife is called widow in an archive dated 1564. \r\n\r\nStyle\r\nWe don’t know where and with whom Abaquesne was trained as a potter and how he learned to make tin-glaze earthenwares. It is possible he trained abroad, in Italy or in Antwerp, or worked with Italian or Dutch ceramists in France. His work betrays the influence both of Italian and Netherlandish tin-glazed earthenwares. That’s why many Netherlandish pavements have been attributed to him (château de Polisy, Chapelle sainte-Croix, cathédrale de Langres ; Château de Fère-en-Tardenois ; tiles from Colombier de Boos ;  tiles from Logis du Roi au Havre…). \r\nPortraiture is a common motif on Italian drug jars at the time. The little waves on the neck and bottom part can be seen on some Netherlandish wares as well (see C.302-1938) and their shape is also quite similar (see. 1093-1905). The portrait is roughly painted with large brushstrokes.\r\nHow can we make the difference between a French and Netherlandish item?  Their clay and glaze are not similar (see Dumortier’s book). The glaze of Antwerp pieces is whiter than Abaquesne’s ones. Chemical analyses could tell us more about that.\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Tin-glazed earthenware painted in blue, yellow, green, brown and orange with a bust of a bearded man. Made by Masseot Abaquesne. France, Rouen, about 1544-1550.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Pots de pharmacie des origines au XIXe siècle, musée national de la Céramique, 1974"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Marquet de Vasselot, Jean-Joseph, « Pot de pharmacie offert au Louvre par M. R. Koechlin», Bulletin\r\nde la société nationale des antiquaires de France, Paris, [s.n.], 1904, p. 123.\r\n"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Laruelle, Ernest-Joseph, Les apothicaires rouennais : histoire de la corporation du Moyen-Age à la Révolution: contribution à l'histoire de la pharmacie en Normandie, Rouen, éd. Librairie Henri Defontaine, 1920."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Hossard, Jean, «Abaquesne, premier faïencier français au service de la pharmacie», Revue d'histoire de la pharmacie, n°139, Paris, [s.n.], 1953, p. 147-151."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Guillemé-Brulon, Dorothée, Dauguet, Claire, Les pots de Pharmacie, Paris, éd. Massin, 1987."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Fourest, Henri-Pierre, Sainte-Fare-Garnot, Pierre-Nicolas, Les pots de pharmacie, Rouen et la Normandie, la Picardie et la Bretagne, Paris, éd. R. Dacosta, 1982"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Cotinat, Louis, « Deux albarels des ateliers de Masséot Abaquesne au feu des enchères », Revue dhistoire de la pharmacie, 71, n°257, 1983, p. 105-106"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Alexandre-Bidon, Danièle, Dans l'atelier de l'Apothicaire. Histoire et archéologie des pots de pharmacie XIIIe-XVIe siècle, Paris, éd. A&J Picard, 2013"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Chompret, Joseph, Les faiences françaises primitives d'après les apothicaireries hospitalières, Paris, éd. Nomis, 1946"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"man","id":"x35641"},{"text":"portrait","id":"AAT15637"},{"text":"scroll","id":"AAT10094"},{"text":"floral","id":"x34796"},{"text":"flowers","id":"x35571"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["C.148-1951"],"accessionNumberNum":"148","accessionNumberPrefix":"C","accessionYear":1951,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2016JE1516"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-05-29","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":false}}