BOCCALE O QUARTONE, MONTELUPO, 1570-1590 CIRCA in majolica decorated in polychrome; on the bottom old labels of the collection; h. cm 38, diam. of mouth cm 16,3, diam. base 14.8 cm A JUG, MONTELUPO, CIRCA 1570-1590 Comparative bibliography F. Berti, Il museo della ceramica di Montelupo, Firenze 2008, p 328 n. 47 and pp. 333-334; M. Marini, Passione e Collezione. Maioliche e ceramiche toscane dal XIV al XVIII secolo, Florence 2014, pp. 154-155 n. 81 (with the same mark); C. Ravanelli Guidotti, Maioliche di Montelupo, Florence 2019, p. 70 fig. 9a The large tankard has an ovoid body, an imposing three-lobed mouth and a wide ribbon handle with reinforcing cordon with impressed decoration. A marked lozenge decoration covers the body of the jug, leaving reserved a portion on the front and around the handle decorated in blue with shading, while the portion below is white with an "A" outlined in block letters. On the front a large round medallion edged in blue shows a nice representation of a dolphin or "sea monster" covered with seaweed standing out in a calm sea at sunset. The jug has parallels with examples bearing the letter A under the handle found in the Montelupo excavations and dating back to the second half of the 16th century. However, the association with the decoration on a blue background has led us to believe that the date is more likely to be in the last thirty years. Also the lozenge decoration, probably of Middle Eastern origin, more likely Iranian, with examples in metal painting, often used in open or closed forms with significant variations, suggests a date between 1540 and 1610. For an interesting comparison, datable to the last quarter of the 16th century, see the fruit bowl with sea monster (Scylla?) associated with a rigorous decoration on compendiary porcelain in the Museo della Ceramica in Montelupo, or the sea monster very similar to ours on a crepe in a private collection recently published by Carmen Ravanelli Guidotti.