Sold Ceramics
Sold Chinese Imari 1700-1800
Western Shapes
Page 1
Chinese porcelain producers developed new types of decorations in the early 18th century, Chinese Imari being one of them. It is characterised by a combination of underglaze blue and overglaze red and gold. Details are sometimes in black and green enamels. This development was a reaction to the success of Japanese Imari porcelain with a similar colour scheme. Sometimes Chinese imitations are direct copies of Japanese examples but more often Chinese Imari is decorated with typical Chinese motifs that are closely related to the underglaze-blue patterns of the period. However, the use of red and gold makes Chinese Imari more lavish. Landscapes, flowering plants, birds and mythical creatures are recurring motifs. Depictions of humans are less frequent and apart from armorial pieces, European designs are quite rare. The shapes fit into the normal export assortment. Chinese Imari was not only in demand in the West, but also in south-east Asia, India, and the Ottoman Empire. In the VOC (Dutch East India Company, 1602–1799) records it is called 'Chinese-Japanese' and in addition to blue and white and enamelled wares, this was a standard type in the Company's assortment that was bought in Canton until the end of the 18th century.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Chinese Imari 1700-1800 - Western Shapes - Page 1
Object 2012579
Shaving bowl
Japan
1720-1740
Height 61 mm (2.40 inch), diameter of rim 309 mm (12.16 inch), diameter of footring 158 mm (6.22 inch), weight 1,345 grams (47.44 ounce (oz.))
Shaving bowl on footring a spreading flat rim, a saved semi-circular section and six small holes on the rim. Chinese Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, overglaze iron-red and gold with a garden scene with various flowering plants growing from taihu (garden) rocks near a fence. The reverse is undecorated.
Shaving bowls were used by barbers and were indispensable in the Dutch household too. They were made of earthenware, pewter, copper and even silver. They had an alternative use, namely, to let blood from a vein in the arm during bloodletting, a medical procedure thought to drain bad blood from the system also performed by the barber/surgeon. In the seventeenth century, regulations were put in place in England to govern what barbers were permitted to do. Thus, the became confined to bloodletting and treating external diseases. In Prussia, the barbers' and the surgeons' guild joined in 1779, and it was said of great Prussian surgeons that they had risen "up from the barber's bowl'. Both purposes explain the semi-circular saving. The holes on the footring are for a cord used to suspend it from the client's neck to catch lather and water during shaving, or to hang the bowl on the wall thus implying that owners also appreciated the bowl for its decorative value as well as its function. Chinese shaving bowls usually have the holes in the footring while Japanese examples have them in the rim. (Jörg 2003/1, p.184 & Sargent 2012, p.189)
Condition: Perfect.
References:
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Chinese Imari 1700-1800 - Western Shapes - Page 1
Object 2012531
Candlestick
China
1720-1740
Height 160 mm (6.30 inch), diameter of cylindrical candle holder 23 mm (0.91 inch), dimensions of foot 93 mm (3.66 inch) x 100 mm (3.94 inch), weight 221 grams (7.80 ounce (oz.))
Candlestick on low, spirally moulded domed foot, baluster stem with knops at the top and bottom, cup-shaped cylindrical candle holder. Chinese Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold with florets between scrolls on an iron-red ground and spirally moulded panels filled with flowering stems alternating with grasses on the foot. The middle section with a spiralling border and leafy flower sprays. Just under the candle holder lozenge-shaped panels with a single flowerhead. On the candle holder leafy flower sprays.
The principal benefit of a form such as this in porcelain would have been the possibility of adding coloured decoration that a metal version would not accommodate. As a functional object however, it would have been impractical. Gilded-wood examples are common. The candlestick form is not uncommon in Chinese export porcelain. All would have been after European originals, most likely metal forms carried on board a ship by captains or used in a church setting. (Sargent 2012, pp.190-191)
The VOC (Dutch East India Company) started to order Chinese porcelain in European shapes as early as 1634. Ewers, beer mugs, candlesticks, salts, mustard pots and other objects for the Dutch table were made after wooden models, which served as moulds for the Chinese potter, 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.
Producing porcelain after models to the taste and needs of foreign customers was no novelty for the Chinese potters. Since the 14th century they had been making all kinds of special objects for the Persian, Indian, South-East Asian and other markets, and this new Western demand merely expanded the range of non-Chinese shapes.
In the late 17th and 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.
The constant changing demands of customers and the frequent ordering of new shapes made it necessary to provide the Chinese dealers with models. The Dutch and other European merchants supplied objects of earthenware, porcelain, silver, pewter or wood for that purpose, but it was also common practice to send drawings of the desired shapes. Literally hundreds of such drawn models were made in the West and handed over to the Chinese porcelain dealers in Canton with specifications regarding measurements, the number of pieces to be made and how they should be decorated. These middlemen then sent the drawings on to the factories in Jingdezhen, where they would have been thrown away after use, so that only a very few have by chance been preserved.
The European companies preferred to buy in bulk the basic, ordinary wares for which there was always a steady market. Pieces of an unusual Western shape or finer items such as coolers, ewers and basins, bough pots and covered jars were seldom bought. The costs of ordering these objects, the attention they needed and the small numbers the European market could absorb made them less interesting to the companies as merchandise. To the independent Western merchant, however, these considerations did not mater, while members of East Indiamen's crews filled their sea chests with exclusive porcelain in Western shapes.
In paklijsten (packing lists) of the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) candlesticks are mentioned as part of dinner services. The candlesticks of the Pronk dinner service at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome are a beautiful example. This candlestick clearly modelled after a portable Western metal chamberstick, could very well have been part of a large Chinese Imari dinner service. (Lunsingh Scheurleer 1989, pp.150-1532), (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, pp.252-253)
Although candlesticks were one of the earliest European forms chosen for copying (with the exception of the dinner service), these creations did not survive the 18th century in any quantity because they were too delicate for everyday use, in spite of their decorative appeal. Clearly this Chinese Imari candlestick also proved to be too delicate for everyday use and was broken ik two pieces, luckily it has been professionally restored. (Howard 1994, p.216)
Condition: A firing flaw and restored after being broken in two pieces.
References:
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1989, pp.150-152 & cat. 130
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, pp.252-253
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Chinese Imari 1700-1800 - Western Shapes - Page 1
Object 2012177
Cuspidor / Spittoon
China
1720-1740
Height 81 mm (3.18 inch), diameter of rim 144 mm (5.67 inch), diameter of footring 40 mm (1.57 inch), weight 312 grams (11.01 ounce (oz.))
Cuspidor or spittoon on footring. Globular body, narrow shoulder, the upper part shaped as a bowl with straight, wide-spreading sides. Chinese Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold. On the body and inside the bowl two groups of flowering plants. On the outside of the bowl two wide spread flower sprays.
The cuspidor or spittoon was indispensable when chewing tobacco. Chinese spittoons were introduced into the export assortment around 1700, competing with the slightly earlier Japanese pieces. They usually have a spherical body, a shape borrowed from Chinese vessels which had originally been used as vases for a single lotus flower.(Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.118)
The doll’s house of Petronella Oortman (1656-1716), c.1686 - c.1710, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, inv.nr. BK-NM-1010. Two spittoons are standing beside the table and chairs. (Picture courtesy : judithsgarden.eu)
Condition: A popped bubble of glaze to the reverse rim and some tiny shallow rough spots to the footring.
References:
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Chinese Imari 1700-1800 - Western Shapes - Page 1
Object 2010233
Tankard
China
1710-1730
Provenance: Mrs Elburg-van Dam, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Height 130 mm (5.12 inch), diameter 85 mm (3.35 inch), diameter of mouthrim 85 mm (3.35 inch), diameter of footring 65 mm (2.56 inch), weight 441 grams (15.56 ounce (oz.))
Tankard on footring. C-shaped handle and an underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Chinese Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold. The cylindrical sides are decorated with two panels filled with a flowering peony tree. In between the panels flower heads on a whorl pattern ground. On the a trellis pattern border with four reserves filled with flower heads. A single flower spray on the C-shaped handle which ends in a ruyi-shaped ornament.
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)
For a similarly shaped and decorated tankard, please see:
- Have a Cup of Tea. Chinese Porcelain and Tea in North-West Germany, (Exhibition catalogue, Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg, 2015), p.78, cat. 34 / Made in China, Porzellan und Teekultur im Nordwesten, (Exhibition catalogue, Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg, 2015), p.112, cat. 34.
Condition: Two firing flaws to the outer footring, a fleabite to the rim and a frit to the underside of the ruyi- shaped ornament.
References:
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Chinese Imari 1700-1800 - Western Shapes - Page 1
Object 2012082
Chamberstick
China
1720-1740
Height 95 mm (3.74 inch), diameter of scale 135 mm (5.31 inch), diameter of cylindrical candle holder 29 mm (1.14 inch), diameter of foot 83 mm (3.27 inch), weight 193 grams (6.81 ounce (oz.))
Chamberstick on footring swelling base with a flat rim, cylindrical candle holder with C-shaped handle. Chinese Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold on the flat rim with three peony flower sprays, on the swelling base two groups of flowering cherry and on the cylindrical candlestick holder, a taihu (garden) rock with flowering peony, bamboo and iris plants. On the handle a single flowering stem.
The VOC (Dutch East India Company) started to order Chinese porcelain in European shapes as early as 1634. Ewers, beer mugs, candlesticks, salts, mustard pots and other objects for the Dutch table were made after wooden models, which served as moulds for the Chinese potter, 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.
Producing porcelain after models to the taste and needs of foreign customers was no novelty for the Chinese potters. Since the 14th century they had been making all kinds of special objects for the Persian, Indian, South-East Asian and other markets, and this new Western demand merely expanded the range of non-Chinese shapes.
In the late 17th and 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.
The constant changing demands of customers and the frequent ordering of new shapes made it necessary to provide the Chinese dealers with models. The Dutch and other European merchants supplied objects of earthenware, porcelain, silver, pewter or wood for that purpose, but it was also common practice to send drawings of the desired shapes. Literally hundreds of such drawn models were made in the West and handed over to the Chinese porcelain dealers in Canton with specifications regarding measurements, the number of pieces to be made and how they should be decorated. These middlemen then sent the drawings on to the factories in Jingdezhen, where they would have been thrown away after use, so that only a very few have by chance been preserved.
The European companies preferred to buy in bulk the basic, ordinary wares for which there was always a steady market. Pieces of an unusual Western shape or finer items such as coolers, ewers and basins, bough pots and covered jars were seldom bought. The costs of ordering these objects, the attention they needed and the small numbers the European market could absorb made them less interesting to the companies as merchandise. To the independent Western merchant, however, these considerations did not mater, while members of East indiamen's crews filled their sea chests with exclusive porcelain in Western shapes.
In paklijsten (packing lists) of the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) candlesticks are mentioned as part of dinner services. The candlesticks of the Pronk dinner service at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome are a beautiful example. This chamberstick clearly modelled after a portable Western metal flat chamberstick, could very well have been part of a large Chinese Imari dinner service. (Lunsingh Scheurleer 1989, pp.150-1532), (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, pp.252-253)
Although candlesticks were one of the earliest European forms chosen for copying (with the exception of the dinner service), these creations did not survive the 18th century in any quantity because they were too delicate for everyday use, in spite of their decorative appeal. Clearly this Chinese Imari chamberstick also proved to be too delicate for everyday use, luckily it has been professionally restored. (Howard 1994, p.216)
For examples of other chambersticks, please see:
- Chine de Commande, (D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Lochem 1989), p.151, cat. 130.
- The Choice of the Private Trader. The Private Market in Chinese Export Porcelain illustrated from the Hodroff Collection, (D.S. Howard, Zwemmer, London, 1994), p.219, cat. 256.
For a Japanese Arita export porcelain leaf shaped chamberstick, please see:
Condition: Restored.
References:
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1989, pp.150-152 & cat. 130
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, pp.252-253
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Chinese Imari 1700-1800 - Western Shapes - Page 1
Object 2011723
Small mug
China
1720-1730
Height 62 mm (2.56 inch), diameter of rim 55 mm (2.17 inch), diameter of footring 55 mm (2.17 inch), weight 115 grams (4.06 ounce (oz.))
Small mug with handle on a flat unglazed base. Around the base three moulded circular ribs. Chinese Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, overglaze iron-red and gold with a riverscape with houses, pagodas, flowering plants, mountains, clouds and two kidney-shaped reserves filled with a flowering stem. On the handle a floret between scrolls.
For a similarly, Chinese Imari decorated, tea caddy, please see:
Condition: Perfect.
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Chinese Imari 1700-1800 - Western Shapes - Page 1
Object 2011627
Small beaker
China
1720-1730
Height 50 mm (1.97 inch), diameter of mouthrim 40 mm (1.58 inch), diameter of base 21 mm (0.83 inch), weight 35 grams (1.23 ounce (oz.))
Small cylindrical beaker with spreading foot and mouth and an underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). The base is unglazed. Chinese Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, overglaze iron-red and gold with flowering plants and an insect in flight.
This small beaker derives its shape from European models, perhaps even to that of Dutch silver or pewter Communion - or marriage cups from the second half of the 17th century. This shape is extremely rare in Chinese export porcelain. The function is not yet clear, it may have been used for drinking "genever" (Dutch-gin). (Hartog 1990, p.150)
For similarly shaped small beakers, please see:
- Pronken met Oosters porselein, exhibition catalogue Gemeente Museum Arnhem, (S. Hartog, Waanders, Zwolle 1990), p.94, cat. 100.
- Porzellane. Die blau-weißen asiatischen Porzellane in Schloß Favorite bei Rastatt, (F.W. Grosse ed., Staatliche Schlöser Baden-Württemberg, in Zusammenarbeit mit der Staatanzeiger für Baden-Württemberg GmbH, Schwetzingen 1998), p.139, Abb. 134, Kat. Nr. 101.
For a similarly shaped Japanese small beaker, please see:
Condition: A circular firing flaw on the bottom, a Y-shaped glaze hairline to the inside (only visible on the inside). Some spots of popped bubbles of glaze on the rim caused during the firing process.
References:
Staatliche Schlöser und Gärten 1998, Kat. Nr. 101
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Chinese Imari 1700-1800 - Western Shapes - Page 1
Object 2010916
Bowl
China
1720-1730
Height 79 mm (3.11 inch), diameter of rim 194 mm (7.64 inch), diameter of footring 70 mm (2.76 inch), weight 427 grams (15.06 ounce (oz.))
Bowl or klapmuts on footring with a spreading flat underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Chinese Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, overglaze iron-red and gold with on the outside a continuous scene with pagodas and pine trees on a shore and a crenulated wall with a fortress, pine and cherry trees. On the outer rim florets between scrolls alternating with lozenge ornaments. On the inside the centre shows a river scape with a pagoda on a shore, a pine tree, rocks, plants, mountains, trees and clouds. On the sides a continuous scene with pagodas and pine trees on a shore and a crenulated wall with a fortress, pine and cherry trees. On the rim four reserves filled with flower heads and leaves alternating with flower heads flanked by leafy scrolls.
Bowls of this shape with a flat rim are traditionally called klapmuts in Dutch, comparing the shape with a cap with flaps. Rinaldi states that they were specially developed to meet a demand from European customers, who wanted to be able to rest their spoons in the bowl without damaging the edge. In fact, the form was already well-known, not as shallow bowls, but as late 15th-early 16th century large and fairly deep dishes in underglaze blue or as Song and early Ming celadon saucers and dishes. The klapmuts is just another variety in the gradual development of this type. (Rinaldi 1989, p.118), (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.60 & p.101)
The shape of this bowl (klapmuts) is unusual for its production time around 1720-1730.
The scene of houses and shrubbery near a river running before a crenulated wall is unusual in Chinese Imari ware. This type of decoration, with the brick wall and the pagoda is often referred to as the 'Chinese wall' while others think it is a Chinese fortress within walls. (Gordon 1977, p.47)
For identically decorated objects, please see:
- Collecting Chinese Export Porcelain, (E. Gordon, Universe Books, New York, 1977), p. 47, cat 31.
- Porzellan aus China und Japan. Die Porzellangalerie der Landgrafen von Hessen-Kassel, (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Kassel, Berlin 1990), p.355, cat. 138.
Condition: Firing flaws to the base and inner footring, a fleabite to the rim and a frit and fleabites to the footring.
References:
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.60 & p.101
Price: Sold.
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