Beauvais scraffito albarello

This drug jar or alabarello, is from Beauvais in central France. It has double slip sgraffito decoration, which is achieved by scratching through the top coat of white slip (liquid clay coloured with metallic oxides) to expose the red slip underneath. The vessel is further embellished with green and blue glaze, foliate motifs and the inscription: 'VA T'EN QUITTE' (possibly meaning 'get out of here'). This was an apt warning on a container designed to hold hazardous and/or precious ingredients. The jar would have been sealed with a cap made from parchment or pig's bladder.