tankard
- Museum number
- 1952,1113.1
- Description
-
Large silver-mounted tankard. Oviform body and broad slightly tapering neck and loop handle; painted with small goose, butterfly and moth among flowering branches and with blue dashes along handle; silver lid with shell thumb-piece and engraved with laurel wreath tied by ribbon; silver foot below. Made of porcelain decorated in underglaze blue, with silver fittings. Arita ware. Marked.
- Production date
- 1670-1690
- Dimensions
-
Height: 27.80 centimetres (to top of thumb-piece)
-
Height: 24.50 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
-
Smith et al 1990
Porcelain decorated in underglaze blue, made for European market.
The silver fittings bear the mark of Wierwick Somer II of Antwerp (1645/7-1717). The use of such mounts suggests the high value placed on Japanese porcelain at the time.
See also:
Jenyns, Soame, 'Japanese Porcelain', London, 1965, pl. 16b.
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Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990
A tankard with oviform body and broad slightly tapering neck and loop handle. It is painted with a small goose, a butterfly and a moth among flowering branches and with blue dashes along the handle. The silver lid has a shell thumb-piece and is engraved with a laurel wreath tied by a ribbon; below is a silver foot.
LITERATURE:
Soame Jenyns, 'Japanese Porcelain', London, 1965, Pl. 16B.
D. F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, 'Chinesisches und Japanisches Porzellan in europaischen Fassungen', Braunschweig, 1980, Abb. 417.
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Farrer 2001
This large tankard has a lavish underglaze blue decoration of peonies and flowering branches. A moth hovers over the pollen-rich stamens of the peony. Small geese appear near the handle and a butterfly near the base. This sort of bold freehand painting of flowers would have intrigued western buyers. Silver fittings, marked for Wierwick Somer II of Antwerp (1645/7-1717) were added once the tankard had arrived in the West. Such fittings conferred a greater importance and value on the piece, in addition to making it useable in a western context.
See also:
Jenyns, Soame, 'Japanese Porcelain'. 1965, London, pl. 16b.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1952
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1952,1113.1
