Sold Ceramics
Sold Ceramics - Sold Red & Gold / Rouge-de-Fer 1690-1730 - Western Shapes - Page 1
Object 2011851
Mug
China
1700-1720
Height with mount 210 mm (8.27 inch), diameter of mouthrim 95 mm (3.74 inch), diameter of footring 125 mm (4.92 inch), weight 1,075 grams (37.92 ounce (oz.))
Mug of cylindrical shape with a C-shaped handle and an unglazed base. Mounted with a 19th / 20th century Belgium silver mount (marked). Decorated in 'Red & Gold' / 'Rouge-de-fer' and gold on the glaze with three groups of flowering peony sprays. Around the foot a pointed leaves pattern border, the rim with a diaper pattern border with flower heads. On the handle a floret between scrolls.
The Belgium silver mount is marked; 'simonet' & '900'. 'simonet' refers to the Brussels based firm 'Simonet & Vansteeger' who specialised in silver work designs in the 19th and 20th centuries. '900' refers to the purity mark of the silver used.
For centuries lo-alcoholic beer had been a common less risky alternative to water, which often was quite polluted. There has therefore been a long design tradition of beer ware such as beer jugs, mugs and crucibles. As soon as the possibility arose of having porcelain copies of all kinds of practical Dutch (household) ware manufactured in China, beer jugs were also often made to order there. Both tall straight models as well as bulbous types were available. In Japan beer mugs were only manufactured for trade during a short period of time in the late 17th century. The existence of Delft copies of these jugs illustrates that there must have been a considerable demand for them in the Netherlands in those days. (source: Groninger Museum)
The mug is undoubtedly copied from a European silver original. Europe had always used a wide variety of materials for drinking vessels, including silver, pewter, leather, horn, pottery and glass. Efforts made by merchants in the China trade in the 17th and 18th centuries to develop Chinese porcelain as an alternative material (both for drinking and for pouring vessels) met with varying success. The main rivalry was between porcelain and glass and while the use of porcelain for hot beverages has now become almost universal, for other uses it was to prove less successful. (Howard 1994, p.186 & p.193)
Condition: A firing flaw to the handle.
References:
Price: Sold.
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