In the sixteenth century, Chinese porcelain occasionally arrived in England, sometimes by way of the Levant, sometimes by sea around the Cape of Good Hope. As it was very rare and considered a special treasure, the most accomplished English silversmiths were often commissioned to make mounts for it. Pieces such as these were regarded as suitable for royal gifts or for the furnishing of princely houses. The ewer shown here is one of a group of Chinese porcelains of Wanli period (1573–1620), with silver-gilt mounts made in London by an unidentified silversmith about 1585. They were all acquired by the Museum from the estate of J. P. Morgan.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Ewer from Burghley House, Lincolnshire
Date:Chinese porcelain 1573– ca. 1585, British mounts ca. 1585
Culture:British, London mounts and Chinese porcelain
Medium:Hard-paste porcelain, gilded silver
Dimensions:Height: 13 5/8 in. (34.6 cm)
Classification:Metalwork-Silver In Combination
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1944
Object Number:44.14.2
Inscription: Stickers: [1] Description cut from catalogue of "Marquess of Exeter Sale, 1888" (ink), "286" (pencil); 286 C (pencil); [2] I.B.; [3] 1067 (pencil)
Marking: Stamped on lid, on shoulder band, and twice on plain band above base: three trefoils voided within a shaped shield (maker's mark)
thought to have belonged to William Cecil, Lord Burghley , Burghley House, Stamford, Northamptonshire, England ; possibly bequeathed to Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter , Burghley House, Stamford, Northamptonshire, England ; possibly Sir Walter Raleigh (recently suggested, however, that bequeathed instead by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1597 to Lord Burghley's younger son Robert, 1563–1612); possibly Robert Cecil , Burghley House, Stamford, Northamptonshire, England (from 1597?); William Alleyne Cecil, 3rd Marquis of Exeter , Burghley House, Stamford, Northamptonshire, England (until 1888; Exeter sale, Christie's, London, June 7–8, 1888, lot 256; sold to Agnew); William Agnew , London (from 1888) ; J. Pierpont Morgan , New York ; J. P. Morgan Jr. , New York, (until 1944; sold by estate to MMA)
London. Burlington Fine Arts Club. "Exhibition of Blue and White Oriental Porcelain," 1895.
London. Victoria and Albert Museum. "Loan Exhibition to the Victoria & Albert Museum," 1906.
London. Burlington Fine Arts Club. "Exhibition of Early Chinese Pottery and Porcelain," 1910.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Loan Exhibition of the J. Pierpont Morgan Collection," February 17, 1914–May 28, 1916.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The China Trade and Its Influences," April 23–September 21, 1941.
New York. China Institute in America. "Chinese Porcelains in European Mounts," October 22, 1980–January 25, 1981.
Washington D.C. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. "Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries," June 24, 2007–September 16, 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "British Silver: The Wealth of a Nation," May 15, 2012–January 20, 2013.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England," October 10, 2022–January 8, 2023.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England," February 26–May 14, 2023.
Medici Porcelain Manufactory (Italian, Florence, ca. 1575–ca. 1587)
ca. 1575–87
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