Page 32 - Chinese Export Porcelain Art, MET MUSEUM 2003

31. Pieces from a Table Service.
Chinese (Portuguese market),
ca. I760-65. Hard paste and enameled

copper. H. of bottle cooler (.203)
8 in. (20.3 cm). Helena Woolworth
McCann Collection, Gift of Winfield
Foundation, I95I (5I.86.I90-.2o6)

One three table services madefor
of
Dom Gaspar de Saldanha eAlbuquerque
(b. ca. i720), this one is unusualfor
the number and variety of itsforms
andfor the inclusion of nearly two dozen
dish covers enameled on copper (one is
placed on the deep covered dish at the
left). What we recognize as a table
service, with its complement of matching
objectsfor every aspect of dining, came
into being in Continental silver and
porcelain in the early i74os. Services
varied greatly not only in size but in the
unequal number their component
of
parts; however organized, the average
service after about I75o comprised
between io5 and3oo pieces, approximately.

The iconographicalprogram of the
Saldanha service,featuring an
unidentifiable, wreathed haunch and
an abundance of game,fruit, and
vegetable trophies, was obviously
in accordance
designed specifically
with Saldanha's taste.

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