ITALIAN, 18TH CENTURY

While it has thus far proved impossible to connect the initials 'Z.N.T.' with an individual, the inscription does shed some light on the foundry that produced the mortar. The inscription is translated 'Terzo Rafanelli and sons foundry in Pistoia'. The Rafanelli foundry is known to have produced at least one other mortar similar to this one in decoration and inscription, which was sold anonymously, Sotheby's London, 6 July 1989, lot 95. The foundry was still active in the nineteenth century, as evidenced by two similarly inscribed bells, one in S. Leolino, Rignano dated 1853 and the second in Sant'Agostino, Gubbio dated 1879.