The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Jug with Portuguese arms

Art Object

Abraham Roentgen's Writing Desk

Discover the secret compartments of this writing table and see how it can be transformed into a private altar.

Perhaps the most exquisite and technically refined piece from German cabinetmaker Abraham Roentgen (1711–1793), this desk was made for his premier patron, the Catholic official Johann Philipp von Walderdorff. Its interior holds a multitude of drawers, panels, and compartments, in addition to sophisticated mechanical fittings that safeguard the elector’s privacy.

This writing table from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013). Learn more about the table: http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/collectie/BK-16676/bureau-op-s-vormige-poten-versierd-met-marqueterie.

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Jug with Portuguese arms

Date:: ca.1520–40
Culture:: Chinese
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain with cobalt blue under transparent glaze (Jingdezhen ware)
Dimensions:: H. 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Helena Woolworth McCann Collection, Purchase, Winfield Foundation Gift, 1961
Accession Number:: 61.196

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 201

Description

This ewer with the Portuguese royal arms is witness to the first East-West trade in Chinese porcelain carried on by the Portuguese in the mid-sixteenth century. The form is neither Chinese nor European; rather, it is based on an Islamic metalwork vessel made for the Near Eastern market that was appropriated for the new European trade. The Chinese painters have misunderstood the Portuguese coat of arms, which appears upside down.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Marking: Hsüan Tê nien hao (in underglaze blue, on underside within double circle)
Provenance

Helena Woolworth McCann ; D.M. Hubrecht (until 1961; sale, Sotheby & Co., London, October 17, 1961, no. 107; to MMA)
See also
What
Metal (59,364)

Ceramics (29,320)

Clay (23,649)

Vessels (21,921)

Faience (11,698)

Porcelain (11,369)

Glaze (5,188)

Jugs (1,683)

Cobalt (234)
Where
Asia (68,071)

China (17,417)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,545)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Central and North Asia, 1400–1600 A.D.

China, 1400–1600 A.D.
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