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Bloemaert, Abraham (1564-1651)

Object 2012136

Milk jug

China

1745-1750

Height 101 mm (3.98 inch), diameter of mouthrim 32 mm (1.26 inch), diameter of footring 39 mm (1.54 inch), weight 172 grams (6.07 ounce (oz.))

Milk jug on footring, pear shaped body with handle, small triangular spout at the rim. The handle is placed opposite the spout. The original cover is missing. Decorated en camaïeu with overglaze lilac pink enamels and gold with a fisherman standing at a riverbank near two large wicker baskets and a large tree, two birds in flight and in the background three houses. Round the shoulder a border of scale work and irregular panels supported by a peacock and garlands. On the handle scroll work in gold.

The decoration on this milk jug has been taken from a drawing titled 'Un pêcheur,' (The Fisherman) by Abraham Bloemaert (1564/66-1651), a Haarlem-born painter and printmaker, who specialized in historical subjects. Originally Bloemaert's design was engraved by his son Cornelis II (ca.1603-ca.1680), but the design on this milk jug has been reversed, which points to the idea that it was based instead on a later re-engraving, possibly a wood-cut published by the Dutch engraver Cornelis J. Visscher de Jonge (1629?-1658?).(Sargent 2012, p.252)

As a child, Abraham Bloemaert (1564-1651) moved with his family from Gorinchem to Utrecht. He was apprenticed to no less than five different masters, among them his father Cornelis Bloemaert I. Having travelled to Paris and Amsterdam, in 1593 Bloemaert returned to Utrecht. There he was to remain for the rest of his life. Abraham Bloemaert acquired a name for his paintings of mythological and religious subjects. Bloemaert - a pious Catholic in the Protestant Northern Netherlands - received numerous commissions from the Catholic Church. Bloemaert’s early paintings feature the exaggerated, elongated and muscular figures of mannerist art. In the 1620s, when his career was at its height, his style began to change. Influenced by his pupils, including Gerard van Honthorst and Hendrick ter Bruggen, he painted a number of works in the Caravaggist manner.

The 'Un pêcheur' (The Fisherman) design occurs in many variations in border design, colour scheme and the way in which elements of the principal design are rendered. Other varieties show a mountainous landscape (probably a Chinese variation). (Jörg 1989/2, p.134)

A print by Cornelis J. Visscher de Jonge (1629?-58?), a Dutch engraver who based his design on a drawing by the Haarlem-born painter and printmaker Abraham Bloemaert (1564/66-1651). (Reproduced from: Chine de Commande, (D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, (Uitgevermaatschappij De Tijdstroom BV, Lochem 1989), p.219, Afb. 193a.)

Lunsingh Scheurleer illustrates an engraving by Cornelis J. Visscher de Jonge, which is almost identical, on the porcelain the later added mountains in the background seem to have been evolved from the trees in the original print. The scene is recorded with at least three border decorations, the earliest with a diaper rim and Meissen-style cartouches of about 1736-38, and another about five years later with this type of rim en grisaille. A Delft faience example in blue is in the Musée de la Compagnie des Indes, Lorient, France. (Gordon 1977, p.76, cat 60), (Howard & Ayers 1978, vol. 2, pp.369-370, cat. 362), (Lunsingh Scheurleer 1989, cat. 193a ), (Sargent 2012, p.252)

Chine de commande objects decorated en camaïeu in overglaze lilac pink enamels are rare. (Jörg 1989/2, p.170)

For an identically in en camaïeu overglaze lilac pink enamels decorated, sold, teapot please see:

Sold Ceramics - Sold Chine de commande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Western Designers - Page 1 - Bloemaert, Abraham (1564-1651) - Object 2011935.

For early objects with the 'Un pêcheur' design with a diaper rim and Meissen-style cartouches decorated in various overglaze enamels and gold, please see:

For early objects with the 'Un pêcheur' design with a diaper rim and Meissen-style cartouches decorated en grisaille with iron-red and gold, please see:

For other objects with the 'Un pêcheur' design, decorated en grisaille with gold, please see:

Interestingly the border design with the diaper rim and Meissen-style cartouches used on the objects with the 'Un pêcheur' design mentioned above match those on the so-called 'Sail maker' Chine de commande design, for an example of this dish please see:

Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics from the Peabody Essex Museum, (W.R. Sargent, Salem, Massachusetts, 2012), pp.250-251, plate 126.

For other objects with the 'Un pêcheur' design, decorated en camaïeu in overglaze lilac pink enamels, please see:

Condition: Perfect.

References:

Beurdeley 1962, cat. 123

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1966, cat. 197, 198 & 289

Gordon 1977, cat. 60

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1974, cat. 206, 207 & 298

Howard & Ayers 1978, vol. 2, cat. 362

Boulay 1984, p.272, nr. 1

Hervouët 1986, cat. 3.8, 3.9 & 3.10

Jörg 1989/2, p.170, cat. 43 & 44

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1989, cat. 193a & b

Sargent 2012, cat. 126 & 127

Price: Sold.