Batavian Brown (Capucin wares)
China, 1700–1800
In the Netherlands, porcelain decorated in this type of underglaze brown has historically been called "Batavia Brown" or "Capucijnergoed" ("Chick-pea ware", after the legume). The first name may have been coined because most goods exported to The Netherlands from the East were sent via Batavia and has nothing to do with a Batavian production or decoration, It is a very common type with the decoration usually contained within medallions. Occasionally, a gold decoration has been painted on the brown glaze. The brown colour is achieved by using iron oxide as a pigment, which like underglaze blue, needs to be fired at high temperatures. Considerable quantities were exported to the Western and Inter-Asian markets from c.1700. The pieces are rarely refined and can be considered as articles for everyday use by the middle-classes. (source: Jan Menze van Diepen Stichting. Selectie uit de collectie Oosterse keramiek. (Jan Menze van Diepen Foundation. A Selection from the Collection of Oriental Ceramics), (C.J.A. Jörg, Slochteren, 2002))
Object 2011028
Covered jar
Provenance: China
Dating: Qianlong (1736-1795)
A large covered jar with steep sides on a footring, a domed cover with ring knob and a glazed base. Batavia Brown covered with underglaze dark brown. Polychrome decorated in various, famille rose, overglaze enamels.
The body and cover reserved with three large, leaf-shaped, panels filled with peony sprays.
C.J.A. Jörg, in co-operation with A. Borstlap, J. van Campen and T.M. Eliëns, states in his "Oriental Porcelain in The Netherlands. Four Museum Collections" that the term "famille rose" was first coined by the 19th-century French author Albert Jacquemart, who distinguished between specific groups in his descriptions of Oriental ceramics.
C.J.A. Jörg states in his "Jan Menze van Diepen Stichting. Selectie uit de collectie Oosterse keramiek. (Jan Menze van Diepen Foundation. A Selection from the Collection of Oriental Ceramics)" that porcelain decorated in this type of underglaze dark brown has historically been called "Batavia Brown" or "Capucijnergoed". Occasionally, a gold decoration has been painted on the brown glaze.
Dimensions:
Height (including the cover): 132 mm (5.20 inch)
Diameter: 117 mm (4.61 inch)
Diameter of mouth: 113 mm (4.45 inch)
Diameter of footring: 68 mm (2.68 inch)
Condition: Perfect.
References:
Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp.77-105.
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1968, p.36, cat. 137.
Price: € 449 - $ 581 - £ 360
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Object 2011251
Cup and saucer
Provenance: China
Dating: Late Yongzheng Period (1723-1735) early Qianlong Period (1736-1975), c.1730-1750.
Cup and saucer on footrings with glazed bases. The cup with an unusual high spreading foot and recessed base. Batavia Brown covered with underglaze light brown. Decorated in iron-red and gold.
On the centre of the saucer a decoration of a single flowering plant surrounded by two leaf and two fan-shaped cartouches filled with pagoda on a piece of land and a flowering lily plant growing form behind a fence. On the exterior wall three sprays of flower heads.
The exterior wall of the teacup two leaf and two fan-shaped cartouches filled with pagoda on a piece of land and a flowering lily plant growing form behind a fence. On the bottom a single flowering lily plant.
The high spreading foot and recessed base on the cup is unusual, I have not seen it before on other Batavia Brown cups (or saucers).
C.J.A. Jörg in collaboration with J. van Campen states in his "Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The Ming and Qing Dynasties" that this type in dark brown is traditionally called "Batavia brown" in the Netherlands, "capucin" or "feuilles mortes" in French, or simply "brown glazed" in England and the United States.
Dimensions:
Saucer
Height: 21 mm (0.83 inch)
Diameter: 138 mm (5.43 inch)
Diameter of footring: 79 mm (3.11 inch)
Cup
Height: 55 mm (2.16 inch)
Height of foot: 12 mm (0.47 inch)
Diameter: 86 mm (3.39 inch)
Diameter of footring: 44 mm (1.73 inch)
Condition saucer: Perfect.
Condition cup: Perfect.
References:
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, pp.136-137, cat. 143.
Price: € 349 - $ 457 - £ 304
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
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