Bellarmine

[Akanthus]

Eley ,thank you for your answer.I can't stop thinking about this.I have learned that Bellarmines were often decorated with coats of arms.Realistic ones ,connected to families or cities and invented ones, but similar to reality .But why 9 Spheres ? For me that's too concise for beeing an invention.Searching around i found Quirinus,the patron saint of the city of Neuss in the rhinelands.His attributes are nine spheres on his shield and flag.Perhaps that is a connection to the decoration on the Bellarmine, which most probably was made in Frechen,a city also in in the rhinelands.The RVT could be the initial of the trader or even the potter.I learned that traders in those times often ordered a certain decoraton on their goods,depending on the placec they wanted to sell them.Many pilgims went to Neuss to visit the shrine of St.Quirinus and this was certainly a good market for things with the nine spheres.Perhaps that solves the puzzle