Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 145

Kendi

1590-1615 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Around 1580 a new type of blue-and-white porcelain was developed at Jingdezhen in China. Originally intended for export around Asia it was soon traded across the world, including the Americas. This commerce was driven primarily by the Dutch East India Company (founded 1602), which shipped the new wares in unprecedented quantities.

This new type with panelled borders is called 'Kraak porcelain' and was made for export from the 1580s to the 1640s. The word kraak is the Dutch name for the carrack, an ocean-going trading vessel. Mass-produced in standardised shapes, the wares were stackable and light, which reduced transport costs. Attractively decorated with plants, birds and animals in blue-and-white, Kraak porcelain had world wide success.

In south-east Asia, this type of drinking vessel was known as a kendi. A communal drinking form, it was specifically designed to be held a a certain height and the water poured into one's mouth so that the lips never actually touched the vessel.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Porcelain, moulded and painted in underglaze blue
Brief description
Kendi, moulded porcelain with underglaze blue decoration, China, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1620)
Physical description
Porcelain kendi of depressed globular form with long neck and a mammiform spout. The lower part moulded in five panels, painted in underglaze blue with a bird, a horse, a stork, an insect and sceptre-heads (ruyi); on the spout with flower-heads on diaper ground; below neck with a band of sceptre-heads (ruyi), on the neck with plantain leaves, some diaper-works below mouth.
Dimensions
  • Height: 19.7cm
  • Diameter: 15cm
Styles
Gallery label
Drinking vessel (kendi) China, Jingdezhen, 1590-1615 Made for the south-east Asian market. C.570-1910. Salting Bequest(2009)
Credit line
Salting Bequest
Object history
Bequeathed by Mr. George Salting, accessioned in 1910. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Around 1580 a new type of blue-and-white porcelain was developed at Jingdezhen in China. Originally intended for export around Asia it was soon traded across the world, including the Americas. This commerce was driven primarily by the Dutch East India Company (founded 1602), which shipped the new wares in unprecedented quantities.

This new type with panelled borders is called 'Kraak porcelain' and was made for export from the 1580s to the 1640s. The word kraak is the Dutch name for the carrack, an ocean-going trading vessel. Mass-produced in standardised shapes, the wares were stackable and light, which reduced transport costs. Attractively decorated with plants, birds and animals in blue-and-white, Kraak porcelain had world wide success.

In south-east Asia, this type of drinking vessel was known as a kendi. A communal drinking form, it was specifically designed to be held a a certain height and the water poured into one's mouth so that the lips never actually touched the vessel.
Other number
Loan no. 984
Collection
Accession number
C.570-1910

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Record createdDecember 15, 2008
Record URL
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