A VIN SANTO SPOUTED JAR, MONTELUPO, CIRCA 1620-1640 VIN SANTO SPOUTED JAR, MONTELUPO, CIRCA 1620-1640 terracotta glazed and painted in polychrome with yellow, orange yellow, copper green, cobalt blue and manganese brown Letter S within a circle under both handles; h. 44 cm, mouth diameter 22 cm, foot diameter 22.5 cm Comparison bibliography G.C. Bojani, C. Ravanelli Guidotti, A. Fanfani, Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza. The Galeazzo Cora Donation. Ceramics from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, Milan 1995 p. 228, no. 576; F. Berti. Berti, Fausto. History of the ceramics of Montelupo . Montelupo Fiorentino 1997-2003 in particular 199, pp.171-180, p. 366 no. 307; C.Ravanelli Guidotti, Per un collezionismo della ceramica , in "Faenza" 2017 no. 2, pp. 9-11; C. Fiocco, G. Gherardi, Museo del Vino di Torgiano. Ceramics . Perugia 1991, p. 136 no. 193 The large jar has the shape of a double overlapping truncated cone, bound at the centre by a flat-edged relief band, which, according to Fausto Berti, fulfils a precise structural task of reinforcement; The neck is short and opens into a wide circular opening with an everted rim, it rests on a flat base and is equipped with two ribbon-like handles, made with a double rim, placed in the centre of the upper part of the body to facilitate transport, also facilitated by the central frame that allowed for a firm grip when moving; on the front, almost in the centre, there is a hole framed by a disc perforated in relief, and at the bottom there is a second hole for the liquid to exit, also framed in relief. The entire surface of the jar shows an elegant decoration defined in the literature as 'leaf with polychrome fruit', while on the back the ornamentation is embellished with an owl figure that stands out among the foliage due to its bluish livery. This decorative mode, analysed by Fausto Berti, derives from Venetian decorations and was made with an ornament centred on the depiction of grapes and leaves, sometimes associated with the emblem of the apothecary's shop or the commissioning family. In terms of form and decoration, the closest exemplar is the one in the Cora collection at the MIC in Faenza (inv. no. 21005/c), which, with no holes for the exit of the liquid, must have had an exclusively decorative function, unlike the work examined here, clearly intended for use. The presence of the mark under both handles confirms the date attributable to the 1740s. The owl is an ancient symbol and we find it present on vases related to wine very early on, studied in relation to maiolica over time, as Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti has pointed out in various studies starting from the analysis of some fragments, for example a jug with an owl already in the Stocchi collection, excluding a heraldic explanation. The presence of small birds to embellish the decoration, but with a different pictorial ductus in the rendering of the foliage, is also found in a vin santo jar from the Museo del Vino in Torgiano, which, thanks to the presence of a monochrome mask, makes us reflect on the freedom in the decorative setting of these utensils, in our case evidenced by the presence of the owl on the reverse.