Object Type
Chinese porcelain was an exotic and highly valued product in 16th-century England. Porcelain was often considered in the same way as such natural curiosities as ostrich eggs, nautilus or trochus shells, serpentine (a hard green stone), coconut or gourd cups, and given expensive silver or gold mounts. This bowl is made of Jia Jing porcelain painted with underglaze blue peonies and fish. The silver-gilt mounts are of high quality, chosen to enhance the value of the piece. It would have made a handsome sideboard ornament or could have been part of a collector's 'cabinet of curiosities'.
Trading
Large quantities of Chinese porcelain were made for export in the kilns of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province and traded through south-east Asia and by an overland route through Turkey and into Europe. In 1557 the Portuguese established a trading base in Macau, in southern China, and began to deal in porcelain. As much of this porcelain went directly to Lisbon, it was still extremely rare and highly prized in England, although the activities of English pirates did increase the supply somewhat. The founding of the Dutch East India Company in 1602 led to greater quantities of porcelain entering the market, with a consequent drop in its status and value.
People
By tradition this bowl was a gift from Philip the Fair, Duke of Burgundy (1478-1506) and his wife Joanna 'the Mad' to Sir Thomas Trenchard of Wolverton, Dorset, in gratitude for his hospitality after their ship was wrecked off Weymouth in 1506. In fact, we can tell from the date of the mounts and of the porcelain that it reached England much later, during Elizabeth I's reign (1558-1603), probably as part of a load of porcelain seized from a Spanish ship.
Physical description
JiaJing porcelain bowl in silver-gilt mounts. The bowl is painted in underglaze blue, the interior with four fish below a border, surrounding a central roundel, the exterior with peonies. The foot-mount rises from a tapered plain ring; an applied wire encloses an applied strip die-struck with pomegranates in foliage. Above this is a slightly concave vertical seamed band which is die-struck with egg and dart, the striking registering on the reverse. A second tapered flange has an applied die-struck strip of pomegranates partly overlaid by a profiled vertical wire. This rises to a flange to which the straps are hinged. The four straps have three-part hinges and are cast as demi-figures surmounting shaped scrollwork panels, each containing a lion mask above a swag on a textured ground. The exterior rim is shaped, pierced and wired below a profiled wire. The interior mount is plain. The tapered rim has an applied strip die-struck with pomegranates as on the foot. The two handles are cast and chased as double scrolls, attached to the central hinge lug. They are formed as genii, their wings terminating below the hinge and their tails entwined. (P. Glanville, Silver in Tudor and Early Stuart England, No. 74)
Place of Origin
London, England (altered)
China (made)
Date
1599-1600 (hallmarked)
1522-1566 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Porcelain, painted in underglaze blue, with silver-gilt mounts
Marks and inscriptions
IH in shaped shield, perhaps overstriking another
Leopard's head crowned mark for London
Lion passant Sterling standard
'B' date letter
Dimensions
Height: 13.9 cm including handles, Width: 34.1 cm maximum, Diameter: 23.6 cm, Diameter: 13 cm foot
Object history note
Once owned by the Trenchard family of Wolfeton House, Charminster, Dorset. Porcelain made in China; mounts made in London by an unidentified maker with the mark 'IH', perhaps overstriking another unidentified mark
Historical significance: The weight of the mounts, the clear registration of the die-struck ornament and the careful modelling and chasing of the handle figures, indicate the care taken in the workshop when mounting this bowl. All these characteristics are paralleled in contemporary English-mounted porcelains. The mark of the goldsmith IH is known on other mounted exotica, such as a cup at Burghley, whose body, now replaced in silver, was formerly a nut or egg. (P. Glanville Silver in Tudor and Early Stuart England, Number 74.)
Descriptive line
Chinese porcelain bowl with silver-gilt mounts, English, Tudor, ca. 1600
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Glanville, Philippa. Chinese Porcelain and English Goldsmiths c.1560 - c.1660. Victoria and Albert Museum Album, 3 (1984)
Exhibition History
Treasures for the Nation, The Work of the National Heritage Memorial Fund (01/10/1988-28/02/1989)
Exhibition (Burlington Fine Arts Club 01/01/1901-31/12/1901)
Labels and date
By tradition this bowl was a gift from Joanna and Philip of Austria to Sir Thomas Trenchard of Wolverton, Dorset, in gratitude for his hospitality after their ship was wrecked off Weymouth in 1506. In fact the bowl reached England much later, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, probably as part of a load of porcelain seized from a Spanish ship.
(British Galleries - Gallery 52)
British Galleries:
LUXURY IMPORTED MATERIALS
Aristocrats and wealthy merchants used decorative and expensive tableware to demonstrate their wealth and social status to guests. Splendid rarities, such as the pieces here, created lavish settings for a dessert of wine and sweetmeats. The weight and high quality of the silver mounts indicated the prestige associated with imported Chinese porcelain and other exotic materials. [27/03/2003]
Production Note
The porcelain bowl Ming Dynasty, Emperor Jiajing (1522-1566); the silver-gilt mounts have a London hallmark for 1599-1600.
Materials
Silver; Hard paste porcelain
Techniques
Gilding
Subjects depicted
Fish; Mask; Peony; Pomegranate
Categories
Ceramics; Metalwork
Collection code
MET
