Beaker
ca. 1720-1727 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This beaker was possibly intended for drinking chocolate, an expensive, fashionable and relatively new beverage imported from the New World and the Caribbean. It was made at the Vezzi porcelain factory in Venice.
Vezzi porcelain often bears a strong resemblance to porcelain made at the Meissen manufactory in Germany. This is not surprising as the factory was set up using expertise developed at Meissen and smuggled out in secret. In the early days even the clay used to make the porcelain was obtained illicitly from Meissen. The distinctly Germanic style of the decoration used on this beaker would suggest the enameller may have worked at the Meissen factory or was inspired by a German engraved source print.
Vezzi porcelain often bears a strong resemblance to porcelain made at the Meissen manufactory in Germany. This is not surprising as the factory was set up using expertise developed at Meissen and smuggled out in secret. In the early days even the clay used to make the porcelain was obtained illicitly from Meissen. The distinctly Germanic style of the decoration used on this beaker would suggest the enameller may have worked at the Meissen factory or was inspired by a German engraved source print.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Hard-paste porcelain painted in red enamel |
| Brief description | Tall beaker of hard-paste porcelain painted in red enamel with two rustic figures in a landscape, made by the Vezzi porcelain factory, Venice, ca. 1720-1727. |
| Physical description | Tall beaker of hard-paste porcelain, painted in red enamel with a continuous landscape depicting two rustic men in the foreground, one playing the bagpipes seated under a tree, a small dog at his feet, the other standing nearby leaning on his staff, and in the distance a farmstead, and inside the rim, a formal band of florets, also in red. |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'A / Ven: / .P.' (on the base) |
| Object history | Formerly in the collection of Sir W. Drake, ca. 1868. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This beaker was possibly intended for drinking chocolate, an expensive, fashionable and relatively new beverage imported from the New World and the Caribbean. It was made at the Vezzi porcelain factory in Venice. Vezzi porcelain often bears a strong resemblance to porcelain made at the Meissen manufactory in Germany. This is not surprising as the factory was set up using expertise developed at Meissen and smuggled out in secret. In the early days even the clay used to make the porcelain was obtained illicitly from Meissen. The distinctly Germanic style of the decoration used on this beaker would suggest the enameller may have worked at the Meissen factory or was inspired by a German engraved source print. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.38-1932 |
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| Record created | January 22, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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