Pair Of Large Polychrome Earthenware Pharmacy Jars – Eastern France, 19th Century.

An important and rare pair of large covered medicine jars, in polychrome earthenware in relief, produced in the East of France in the 19th century, probably in Lunéville or Strasbourg, in the style of the Keller & Guérin factories. Each jar adopts a baluster shape on a pedestal, with matching lids. The whole is decorated with a relief decoration, typical of the historicist recreations of the second half of the 19th century, where the Baroque aesthetic is revisited with virtuosity. The naturalistic handles, in the form of intertwined branches, the frames of the medallions are formed by coiled snakes, traditional symbols of medicine and pharmacy. The body of the pots is decorated with floral and fruit decorations with pears painted and modeled in relief, in a fresh and expressive polychromy. The two central medallions present historical coats of arms painted by hand, enhanced with gilded enamels: On the first pot: Coat of arms of the city of Tours, with three fleurs-de-lis on an azure field in chief and three crenellated towers with pointed red roofs, surmounted by a gilded mural crown. This coat of arms evokes an official provenance or a tribute to this royal city, known for its medical activity and its hospital institutions since the Ancien Régime. On the second pot: Coat of arms of the Parisian guild of grocers-apothecaries, with two ships on a stylized sea, surmounted by a celestial hand holding a scale, under the Latin motto “LANCES ET PONDERA SERVANT” (“They respect weights and measures”). This coat of arms underlines the regulatory and authoritative function of this powerful corporation in the field of medicinal substance trade. Origin: Eastern France (Strasbourg or Lunéville), circa 1870–1890. Probably attributable to Keller & Guérin or a nearby factory, in the style of the large decorative earthenware inspired by the 18th century, notably those of Paul Hannong. Dimensions: Height: 66 cm Condition: Very good general condition. Some small chips from use and old restorations, notably on the handles of one of the two pots, there is also a small firing crack. No major structural accidents.