Description
The lemons are full yellow, the ground deep blue, and a weave of acanthus leaves runs around them. The two orange handles are applied by hand to the still-damp body and twisted one at a time: they are the most fragile part of the piece, because they stand proud of it, and they are also what makes it recognisable across a room.
Lemons on blue is the most Tuscan decoration there is, and the hardest to keep in balance: yellow over a dark blue tends to burn in the kiln and shift towards green. Here it holds because the yellow is laid on in two passes.
This is a piece to stand on its own, on a chest or in a niche. With light from one side the handles cast a shadow on the body and the decoration gains depth.
