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Albarello, Bol Armenic
From the collection of National Museum of American History. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This blue monochrome albarello is decorated with a vine and flora motif. Bands of cross-hatching are above and below the collars, and an scroll is inscribed with gothic script that reads <i>BOL ARMNIC</i>” The jar would have contained Armenian bole. Bole, or bolus (Latin for ball) were balls of clay with medicine mixed in that were either taken internally or applied externally to injured areas. Armenian bole would contain clay from Armenia that contained aluminum silicate and red iron.
National Museum of American History’s own descriptionCredit lineAlbarello, Bol Armenic. 1500 - 1599. National Museum of American History, Gift of American Pharmaceutical Association and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. CC0.
