Sugar Box and Cover thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 145

Sugar Box and Cover

ca. 1735 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Detailed, naturalistic scenes in a distinctive palette of reds, blues and gold derive from designs on Japanese porcelain popularised by the painters in Kakiemon from the mid 1600s. The master Tosa Mitsuoki was particularly associated with this style and he was in turn inspired by paintings of much earlier Song Dynasty China.

This Meissen sugar box and cover is an early example of Kakiemon style being copied on European porcelain.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Sugar Box
  • Cover
Materials and techniques
Hard-paste porcelain, moulded, painted in enamels and gilt
Brief description
Sugar box and cover in hard-paste porcelain of octagonal shape, painted in Kakiemon style, made by the Meissen porcelain factory, ca. 1735.
Physical description
Sugar box and cover in hard-paste porcelain of moulded octagonal shape, painted in enamels with the 'Quail Pattern', comprising a pair of quail by a flowering prunus tree and other vegetation.
Dimensions
  • Height: 10.5cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • Crossed swords with pommels (Inside bowl, factory mark in blue)
  • Mark of the thrower Seidel (Impressed)
Credit line
J.A. Tulk Bequest
Production
Attribution from the manuscript catalogue dates from about 1970 and was compiled by William Hutton of the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Detailed, naturalistic scenes in a distinctive palette of reds, blues and gold derive from designs on Japanese porcelain popularised by the painters in Kakiemon from the mid 1600s. The master Tosa Mitsuoki was particularly associated with this style and he was in turn inspired by paintings of much earlier Song Dynasty China.

This Meissen sugar box and cover is an early example of Kakiemon style being copied on European porcelain.
Collection
Accession number
C.25&A-1956

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Record createdMarch 17, 2009
Record URL
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