Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Western Shapes

Object 2012072

High-stem goblet

China

c.1690

Height 124 mm (4.88 inch), diameter of mouthrim 74 mm (2.91 inch), diameter of footring 49 mm (1.93 inch), weight 172 grams (6.07 ounce (oz.))

Bell-shaped goblet on spreading convex circular domed foot with footring, the cylindrical stem with a horizontal rib. Near upright sides, spreading mouthrim. Decorated in underglaze blue. On the foot a band of floral sprays and on the stem single flower heads. On the bell-shaped body flower heads with dense foliage and insects in flight above an upturned lotus-petal border. Round the rim a stylised laurel border, inside the rim a scroll border.

The VOC started to order Chinese porcelain in European shapes as early as 1634. Objects for the Dutch table were made after wooden models, which served as moulds for the Chinese potters, or were copied from Dutch glass, ceramic or metal equivalents. Such pieces may justly be called Chine de commande, as they were ordered specially by Western clients. The term also applies to porcelain with Western decorations.

In the late 17th and the 18th century demand for Western shapes rapidly increased and Europeans became such important clients that several kilns in Jingdezhen came to specialise in 'Western' wares, probably making nothing else. (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.252)

The shape of this goblet clearly derived from a European (wine) glass of c.1690. A number of similar goblets of more elegant form and decorated with river scenes were in the cargo of a Chinese junk sunk off the Vung Tau Peninsula about 1690. The porcelain found in the wreck of the Vung Tau junk is interesting as an early example of a cargo composed of larger orders and consisting to a very large extent of pieces from kilns attuned to Western demands. (Howard 1994, p. 187)

Goblets of this kind evidently did not remain very long in the repertoire of the kilns - perhaps only around 1690, because no later styles of decoration appear on them. It appears that the European merchants abandoned them in the subsequent period, possibly for financial reasons. (Suchomel 2015, p.155)

This goblet would have been used primarily for wine. Typically, in this period, wine was served to dinners from a sideboard; a thirsty individual would request a glass, which would be brought full from the sideboard on a salver or tray, drunk, and then returned for washing and reuse. (Fuchs & Howard 2005, p.126)

For some similarly shaped high-stem goblets decorated in underglaze blue, please see:

Condition: A hairline to the rim and some glaze rough spots to the rib and underside of the cup.

References:

Howard 1994, cat. 215

Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.252

Jörg 1999, cat. 51

Jörg & Flecker 2001, fig 53

Fuchs & Howard 2005, p.126

Suchomel 2015, cat. 41

Price: Sold.