Recent Acquisitions
On this page you'll find my latest acquisitions.
This way you can quickly browse through my recently acquired objects without having to browse through all the various categories.
After some time, each object in 'Recent Acquisitions' will be moved to their specific category.
Latest update: Recent Acquisitions; September 28, 2026.
Japanese Imari 1690-1800 - Tableware and other Porcelain with Western Shapes
Object 2012744
Beer mug
Japan
1670-1690
Height 109 mm (4.29 inch), diameter of mouthrim 60 mm (2.36 inch), diameter of footring 58 mm (2.28 inch), weight 275 grams (9.70 ounce (oz.))
Beer mug on footring. Oviform body, wide neck with a curved pierced handle. Decorated in underglaze blue and Kakiemon-style enamels. On a ground of karakusa scrolls and various stylised flowers, three shaped panels have been reserved, each filled with a flowering chrysanthemum in overglaze blue, green and iron-red and outlined in black enamels. (Jörg 2003/1, p.169)
This is a rare example of a beer mug in kakiemon-style enamels. It is of the same basic type as sold object 2012064 (not included in this sale/offer), but the enamelling made it more special. (Jörg 2003/1, p.169)
When blue-and-white pieces have had overglaze colours applied to them in Japan, the painting is referred to as being in the Kakiemon style.
When pieces have been overpainted in the Netherlands the term used is surdécoré or over-decorated, The Kakiemon decoration can again be subdivided into decoration with sparing use of colour and decoration in the Kraak manner in which all the colours are overglaze. A further possibility is that the Kakiemon decoration also takes in the drawing, mostly surrounded by underglaze blue, see object 130. (Daendels 1981, p.78)
Official shipments from Japan to the Netherlands ceased in 1683, but the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) trade in Japanese ceramics for the inter-Asian markets continued alongside the flourishing private trade. It is impossible to tell how the many pieces made after European models reached Dutch buyers, but the objects preserved in Dutch collections suggest an interested public. Much of it is decorated in Imari, appealing to Dutch taste at the time. Shaving bowls, goblets, tazzas, ewers, condiment sets, the various types of square bottles made after glass models, chestnut pots, tankards, coffeepots, salts and garnitures are part of this group of European-shaped porcelain, used mainly at the dinner table or for the embellishment of the interior. (Jörg 2003/1, p.156)
For centuries low-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 tankards. As soon as the possibility arose of having porcelain copies of all kinds of practical Dutch (household) ware manufactured in Japan and 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)
From 1663 the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) ordered beer mugs which were manufactured in Japan after European models. Probably wooden models or mugs of German stoneware were included in shipments as examples for the manufacture in porcelain. The hole in the handle was used to later attach a pewter or silver cover in the Netherlands. (Hartog 1990, p.152)
(Source: reproduced from: Fine & Curious. Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections, (C.J.A. Jörg, Hotei Publishing, Amsterdam, 2003), p.169, cat. 201, not included in this sale/offer)
For an identically shaped, sized and decorated beer mug fitted with a pewter cover, in a private collection, please see:
- H.A. Daendels, Catalogus tentoonstelling Japans blauw wit Porselein. Op Hollandse bestelling en in de Japanse smaak, exhibition catalogue Gemeentelijk Museum Het Princessehof, Leeuwarden 1981. Also Published as Mededelingenblad Nederlandse Vereniging van Vrienden van de Ceramiek, vols. 101/102, p.78, cat. 130.
- Fine & Curious. Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections, (C.J.A. Jörg, Hotei Publishing, Amsterdam, 2003), p.169, cat. 201.
Some porcelain forms were made exclusively for the export market. The mug is a good example of this category. The form was copied from wooden or ceramic model supplied by Dutch merchants for the Japanese potters to copy, and they are decorated with Europeanized floral designs. For the most part, wares such as these did not have much impact within Japan. (Impey, Jörg & Mason 2009, p.122)
For an identically shaped, and similarly decorated beer mug, please see:
Condition: Firing flaws to the outer footring and on the base.
References:
Impey, Jörg & Mason 2009, p.122, Fig. 78
Price: Sold.
Chinese wares over-decorated in the West 1700-1800 - Dutch over-decorated Amsterdams Bont - House of Orange
Object 2010C337
Dish
China
c.1760-1770, over-decorated in the Netherlands, Amsterdams Bont, c.1770
Height 20 mm (0.79 inch), diameter of rim 234 mm (9.21 inch), diameter of footring 130 mm (5.12 inch), weight 412 grams (15.53 ounce (oz.))
Dish on footring, flattened rim. Decorated in underglaze blue with scattered flowers and a gadrooned border around the rim. Over-decorated in iron-red, black, green, pink, overglaze enamels and gold in the Netherlands, Amsterdams Bont c.1770 with a lively caricature bust portrait of William V, Prince of Orange-Nassau (8 maart 1748 - 9 april 1806) within a rocaille cartouche of green and iron-red scrollwork, the sitter shown in profile with an exaggerated powdered wig, a purple coat crossed by a sash, above a ribbon banner inscribed 'PVOR. (Prins Willem van Oranje)'. The reverse is undecorated.
(Source: Anonieme tekenaar Portret van Willem V ca. 1812 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam PD not included in this sale/offer)
This dish belongs to a well-documented genre within Amsterdams Bont: Chinese export porcelain (and, from around 1780, English creamware as well) over-decorated in the Netherlands with subjects tied to the House of Orange and to the political turbulence surrounding it in the second half of the eighteenth century.
The starting point for this genre is Willem V's 1766 accession to the stadtholderate and his 1767 marriage in Berlin to Princess Frederika Sophie Wilhelmina of Prussia. This marriage was commemorated on both Chinese porcelain and English creamware with paired profile portraits of the couple, identified by abbreviated inscriptions — exactly the convention seen on this plate's "PVOR" banner ('Prins van Oranje'). Espir 2005, pp.176-178 & cat. 28
(Source: reproduced from: European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain 1700-1830, (H. Espir, Jorge Welsh Books, London, UK, 2005), p.177, cat. 28, not included in this sale/offer)
Prince Willem V (1748–1806) and his consort Wilhelmina van Pruisen (1751–1820).
When Prince Willem IV died in 1751, his son, Prince Willem V, was three years old. His mother served as regent until her death in 1758. Her advisor was the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who had lived in the Republic since 1750. This duke, who became guardian of Princess Carolina and Prince Willem after Princess Anna's death, had great influence over the young prince and over affairs of state. He left the country in 1784, having fallen out of favor with the States General. After the prince came of age on his eighteenth birthday in 1766, he became stadtholder of all seven Dutch provinces, as well as captain-general and admiral. In 1767 he married, in Berlin, Princess Frederika Sophie Wilhelmina, a niece of Frederick the Great. Three children were born of this marriage: in 1770 Frederika Louise Wilhelmina; in 1772 the hereditary prince Willem Frederik, later King Willem I; and in 1774 Prince Willem George Frederik, who fell in 1799 in the war against Napoleon, at Padua.
The one bright spot in the Fourth English War, which broke out in 1780 and ended in 1784, was the naval battle at Doggersbank, whose victory was claimed by the Dutch. In this disastrous war, ships worth millions were lost, and trade also suffered great losses. The prince was blamed for this war. This caused the Patriots — influenced by events abroad, such as Enlightenment ideas from France and the independence of the United States of America — to become increasingly restless. The Patriots believed action should be taken against corruption among the regents and that city governments should be democratized. Measures were also called for to improve the economy. In countless satirical prints, which appeared especially from the 1780s onward, the prince was mocked, and he was repeatedly attacked in writing as well. There was discontent in every layer of society.
When the prince was stripped of command of the Hague garrison in 1785, he left Holland. From Gelderland he attempted to restore his authority with an army. During her journey to The Hague — intending to restore the Prince's authority — the Princess was stopped near Goejanverwellesluis, close to Gouda, on 28 January 1787, and prevented from continuing her journey. She called on the help of her brother, the King of Prussia. On 13 September of that same year, Prussian troops entered the Republic, and on 20 September the Prince was welcomed back into The Hague by Orangist citizens. Following this, the Patriots fled the country in large numbers, many of them to Saint-Omer in France. (read/see the objects description of object 2012739; the Dutch Altena-Pierson Armorial dish) After Amsterdam capitulated on 10 October, the Prussian troops left the country. Following France's declaration of war on the Republic in January 1795, French troops under General Pichegru invaded the country. At this point the Prince fled with his family from Scheveningen sailing to England, where he remains until 1801. From England the prince departs for Diez in Germany, and dies in 1806 at Brunswick. (Lunsingh Scheurleer 1994, pp.87-88)
Condition: Some firing flaws to the base two chips and various frits and glaze rough spots to the rim.
References:
Espir 2005, pp.176-178 & cat. 28
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1994, pp.87-88
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Price: € 1.000 Currency Converter
Japanese Imari 1690-1800 - Tableware and other Porcelain with Western Shapes
Object 2012742
Beer mug
Japan
1690-1730
Height 223 mm (8.78 inch), diameter of mouthrim 90 mm (3.54 inch), diameter of footring 82 mm (3.23 inch), weight 893 grams (31.50 ounce (oz.))
Beer mug on footring, compressed globular body. Tall cylindrical neck, Curved pierced handle. Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold with three panels, filled with flowering peony, prunus and chrysanthemum plants growing from rockwork. The panels are divided by kiku and half kiku flowerheads with leafy scrolling in gold on an underglaze blue ground. Round the foot a border of upturned spiky lotus leaves. Round the mouthrim panels filled with half chrysanthemum flowerheads flanked by leafy scrolling alternating with half chrysanthemum flowerheads flanked by leafy scrolling in gold on an underglaze blue ground. The edge of the rim in gold. On the handle leafy scrolls with a single flowerhead. The flowerhead is pierced in the middle to later, in the West, affix a metal or silver cover.
Official shipments from Japan to the Netherlands ceased in 1683, but the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) trade in Japanese ceramics for the inter-Asian markets continued alongside the flourishing private trade. It is impossible to tell how the many pieces made after European models reached Dutch buyers, but the objects preserved in Dutch collections suggest an interested public. Much of it is decorated in Imari, appealing to Dutch taste at the time. Shaving bowls, goblets, tazzas, ewers, condiment sets, the various types of square bottles made after glass models, chestnut pots, tankards, coffeepots, salts and garnitures are part of this group of European-shaped porcelain, used mainly at the dinner table or for the embellishment of the interior. (Jörg 2003/1, p.156)
For centuries low-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 tankards. As soon as the possibility arose of having porcelain copies of all kinds of practical Dutch (household) ware manufactured in Japan and 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)
From 1663 the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) ordered beer mugs which were manufactured in Japan after European models. Probably wooden models or mugs of German stoneware were included in shipments as examples for the manufacture in porcelain. The hole in the handle was used to later attach a pewter or silver cover in the Netherlands. (Hartog 1990, p.152)
(reproduced from: The Voyage of Old-Imari Porcelains, (Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Arita 2000), p.80, cat. 143, not included in this sale/offer)
For an identically shaped, sized and decorated beer mug, in the collection of the Kyushu Ceramic Museum, please see:
For an identically shaped, sized and similarly decorated beer mug, please see:
Condition: Firing flaws to the outer footring and on the base.
References:
Price: € 2.750 Currency Converter
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Armorial - Dutch
Object 2012739
Soup dish
China
c.1768
Provenance: From a Private American Collection and thence by decent, Barneby March 11, 2026.
Height 41 mm (1.61 inch), diameter of rim 240 mm (9.45 inch), diameter of footring 125 mm (4.92 inch), weight 429 grams (15.14 ounce (oz.))
Soup dish on footring, moulded sides and scalloped rim, pierced footring. Decorated in various overglaze enamels and gold with two coats of arms of the Van Altena and Pierson family accollé, on the rim a continuing flowering garland in rose-red, yellow, blue, rouge de fer, and green enamels and gold ending in three grooves, the edge in gold. The reverse is undecorated.
Of this dinner service one oval hexafoil covered soup tureen, the body with moulded sides and two bracket handles, the ogee domed cover with moulded border of three grooves and gilt peach finial. l.33 cm (handle to handle), w.24 cm, and an oval stand with scalloped and moulded rim with three grooves, l.37.5 cm, w.31 cm, S. Marchant & Son Collection, London (2001) (probably provenance Christie's London, 8 June 1983, lot no. 254: L.stand 37 cm, another similar tureen and stand is in the The Gulbenkian Museum, Durham University, provenance The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, note & ill. David S. Howard (1999); a dish with scalloped rim and moulded border of three grooves, d.23.5 cm is in the Museum Geelvinck Hinlopen Huis Amsterdam, Maecenas Collection, inv.no.1370 (1996) (provenance Sotheby's Amsterdam, 17 October 1988, lot 179: d.24 cm).
Apart from this dinner service, a 35-piece tea and coffee service in Meissen-style was sold at Sotheby's New York in 1985 and partly (22 pieces) resold in 2002. The 1985 sale consisted of a covered pear-shaped coffee pot with short moulded spout and bracket handle, the domed cover with fruit finial (h.23 cm); a covered hot water jug of similar shape to the coffee pot but smaller (h.c.19 cm); a covered tea-pot with curved spout, moulded handle and domed cover (h.14.1 cm); a covered milk jug with moulded sides and bracket handle; a covered sugar bowl with two handles moulded as dragon's head and the domed cover with knob finial (h.15.5 cm); a covered rectangular tea caddy with arched shoulders; a slop or waste bowl with moulded sides; an oval spoon tray with scalloped rim; two small circular saucer (berry) dishes with scalloped rim; twelve tea cups of the same shape as the slop bowl, together with twelve saucers with slightly scalloped rim. (Kroes 2007, pp.373)
The edges of the dish are gilded and the borders are decorated with a continuing flowering garland in rose-red, yellow, blue, rouge de fer, and green enamels. There are two large coats of arms accollé in the centre. The dexter arms are: on a blue background a white bend charged with three gold birds (pewits) standing side by side, each on a green base and with a cloud above, the two gold trefoils, one above and one below. These are the arms of Van Altena family. The sinister arms in an oval shield show on a red background a blue chevron charged with five white (silver) flowerheads, with three gold rampant lions (two-one)and in chief a white (silver) shield with a black sword, which belongs to the Pierson family. The two shields are in an attractive rococo style cartouche with a stippled background, bordered by rocaillerie ornaments of shells, horns and branches in pink, blue and green and surmounted by a large coronet.
The Pierson coat of arms has been borne this way since the late 17th century. (Kroes 2007, pp.373-374)
This dinner service was made for Hector Livius van Altena (baptized Blessum, 19 May 1741; died Leeuwarden, 11 April 1806) and Albertina Pierson (born Leeuwarden, 17 January 1745; died Leeuwarden, 27 February 1803) who married on 23 May 1768 in Tietjerk, Friesland and later on had eight children. (Kroes 2007, pp.374)
(Source: By Abraham Jacobsz. Hulk - Rijksmuseum Amsterdam,(Source: Public Domain)
Hector Livius van Altena (1741–11 April 1806) was a Dutch lawyer and politician who played a significant role in Frisian politics during the late 18th century. He was an opponent of the Orangist majority and later became a member of the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic and its successors. (Source Wikipedia)
Van Altena was the son of and fourth child of Henricus Wiardus van Altena (1709-1771), who commissioned an earlier service, and his first wife Johanna Hillegonda van Glinstra (1706-1748) who married in 1733 in Schettens.
Hector Livius van Altena (1741–11 April 1806) birth date is unknown, but he was baptised on 19 May 1741 in Blessum.
(Source: Stinsen in Friesland De Ringia State te Blessum)
Ringiastate in Blessum Friesland, Hector Livius van Altena (baptized Blessum, 19 May 1741; died Leeuwarden, 11 April 1806) lived here in his younger years.
On 21 September 1758, he enrolled at the University of Groningen, where he studied law which he did not finish, then completed his law studies at the University of Utrecht in 1762. (Source Wikipedia)
Following his studies, Van Altena established himself as a lawyer in Tietjerk. In 1782, he became a member of the States of Friesland. He was an ally of Court Lambertus van Beyma and was a leading figure in the opposition against the Orangist majority. In 1787 he is clerk of the praetense staten, a Patriotic counter-government meeting in Franeker. It culminated in the capture of Franeker by the Orangists on 3 September 1787. (Source Wikipedia)
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(Source: Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)
After the fall of Franeker, Van Altena, like other members of the Franeker assembly, was excluded from the general amnesty declared on 16 October 1787. He fled first to the Austrian Netherlands and later to Saint-Omer in France. Despite his considerable wealth, he arrived there destitute and was granted financial assistance by the French government amounting to 24 livres per week. On 11 September 1801, Van Altena was granted financial compensation of 39,947.17 guilders for the losses he had suffered due to his exile in 1787 and the subsequent years. (Source Wikipedia)
Following the Batavian Revolution of 1795, Van Altena was appointed as a member of the Representative Body of Friesland. Although the assembly first convened on 19 February, he did not return from Saint-Omer until 21 March, when he took his seat. In mid-1795, he was appointed Postmaster of Friesland, a position he held until his death, except for the periods when he served in legislative assemblies. (Source Wikipedia)
On 23 June 1795, in elections for Friesland's permanent administration, Van Altena was chosen as a representative for Dantumadeel. He was subsequently elected to the First National Assembly of the Batavian Republic in the election on 30 March 1796, representing the district of Leeuwarden (excluding the city). He aligned himself with the radicals and continued to follow Van Beyma until the latter adopted a more federalist stance, particularly in financial matters. Van Altena then shifted his allegiance to Pieter Vreede. Van Altena was seldom present in the Assembly and spoke infrequently. (Source Wikipedia)
Van Altena was not re-elected on 2 August 1797 for the Second National Assembly but was later chosen as a representative for Leeuwarden. However, due to irregularities, this election was declared invalid. He was subsequently re-elected in the same district on 11 October 1797. (Source Wikipedia)
During the coup d'état of 22 January 1798, Van Altena sided with the instigators. He served as chairman of the Constituent Assembly from 19 February to 5 March and again from 30 April to 4 May 1798. On 4 May, a proposal for new elections was introduced, ensuring that all sitting members would retain their seats, following the precedent set in France in October 1795. The assembly was then divided into two chambers, and Van Altena was elected to the lower chamber. His presidency, originally intended for a 14-day term, ended with this restructuring. (Source Wikipedia)
His tenure as a representative concluded following another coup d'état of 12 June 1798. (Source Wikipedia)
Hector Livius's wife Albertina Pierson (1745-1803) was the daughter of Johannes Pierson (1717-after 1775), councillor of Leeuwarden, and his first wife Anna van der Kemmen (1714-1749). The Pierson family lived in The Hague and Gouda from the early 17th century with younger branches in Leeuwarden from the 1670s. Hector van Altena's descendants married into the Rodenhuis and Veen families. (Kroes 2007, pp.373-375)
For identically decorated objects, please see:
- European Noble and Private Collections. Including the G.A.H. Buisman Jzn. Chinese Armorial Porcelain Collection, auction catalogue Christie’s Amsterdam, 14-16 February 2006, pp.430-431, lot 1094.
- Chinese Armorial Porcelain for the Dutch Market, Chinese Porcelain with Coats of Arms of Dutch Families, (J. Kroes, Waanders Publishers, Zwolle, 2007), pp.373-375, cat. no. 292.
- Christie's France, through Barnebys.
A hole has been drilled in the very short footring in order to fit a wire through it - the traditional Dutch way to hang dishes on walls as display pieces. (Rinaldi 1989, p.137)
Condition: A glazed firing flaw to the edge of the rim.
References:
Price: Sold.
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