Page 155 - Chinese and japanese porcelain silk and lacquer Canepa

‘another box with porcelains, another with 12 porcelains with silver handles’. Six 143 There appears to have been some Spanish activity
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years later, in 1600, Maria sent with Baron de Molar (a gentleman of Maximilian on the uninhabited islands of Bermuda from the
1570s. Among the artifacts recovered from the
III’s chamber) a gift that included ‘50 porcelains among which are three mounted in wreck site were large quantities of silver coins,
silver-gilt’ to the Infanta Clara Eugenia. That year she also sent ‘some porcelains’ to gold bars and ingots, miscellaneous gold jewelry,
179
as well as a gold and emerald cross. The ceramic
Emperor Rudolf II. finds included Spanish or Portuguese majolica and
180
Chinese porcelain. The porcelain was most likely the
It was during the last decade of Philip II’s reign that the only known armorial property of one of the passengers and not part of
porcelain specifically ordered for the Spanish market in the sixteenth century was made the ship’s cargo. For a discussion on the San Pedro
shipwreck, see Teddy Tucker, Treasure! A Diver’s
at the kilns of Jingdezhen (Appendix 2). This piece, a Kraak plate bearing the impaled Life, Hamilton, 2011, pp. 63–96.
144 The author had the opportunity to identify and
arms of García Hurtado de Mendoza, 4th Marquis of Cañete (1535–1609), and his study the porcelain recovered from the San Pedro,
wife, Teresa de Castro y de la Cueva (1547–1596), dating to the Wanli reign, will be Galgo and Santa Margarita during a research
visit to Bermuda in March 2012. I am grateful to
discussed in section 3.4.1.1 of this Chapter (Fig. 3.4.1.1.18). Charlotte Andrews and Elena Strong, National
Museum of Bermuda, for providing me with images
Although King Philip III did not share the same interest for porcelain as his of the porcelain finds for research purposes. For
father Philip II, written sources indicate that porcelain was part of the tableware he a brief discussion on these archaeological finds,
see Teresa Canepa, ‘The Spanish Trade in Kraak
used at mealtimes from early in his life. In 1591, when Prince Philip was 13-years- Porcelain to the New World and Its Impact on the
181
Local Ceramic Industry’, in S.J. Allen, N. Moragas,
old, he took porcelain with him to use as tableware on several different journeys. In and I. Briz Godino (eds.), Revista de Arqueología
a document of that year, the porcelain is listed as ‘two boxes, each containing four Americana. Special issue “Comparative Studies
in the Contact Archaeology”, Mexico D.F, No. 32,
porcelains from India for the service of His Highness the Prince’. After succeeding 2014, pp. 115–116. For sketch drawings of the San
182
Felipe bowls, both with everted and straight rims,
his father to the throne of Spain and Portugal, Philip III continued the Habsburg gift- see Edward Von der Porten, The Early Wanli Ming
giving tradition in the last years of the sixteenth and into the seventeenth century. In Porcelains from the Baja California Shipwreck
Identified as the 1576 Manila Galleon San Felipe,
1599, the King sent many gifts to Archduchess Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551–1608) San Francisco, 2011, p. 23, I–11–I–12 and I–21, and
p. 30, II–6.
on the occasion of his marriage to her daughter Archduchess Margaret of Austria 145 The original inventory in Spanish is published in
(1584–1611) (Archduke Ferdinand II’s sister) in Barcelona. Among countless Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des
Allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses (hereafter cited as Jb.),
curiosities, the gifts sent by the King included ‘100 cups of porcelain’. In subsequent XIX, 1898, Pt. 2, pp. CXXXV-CXL, nos. 1492–1690.
183
Extracts from the inventory translated into French
years, Maria Anna, who belonged to the House of Wittelsbach (by birth) and Austria are published in Davillier, 1882, pp. 130–135. The
(by marriage), received porcelain from her daughter Margaret. For instance in total number of pieces listed in the inventory as
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porcelains is 3,146. There are other pieces that most
1605, Margaret sent her ‘six porcelains from the Indies with silver feet and handles probably describe porcelain but the cataloguer
does not specify the material of which they are
on a box’. Maria Anna appears to have shared the same passion for collecting as made. Canepa, 2014/1, p. 26 and p. 252, note 67.
185
her brother, William V, Duke of Bavaria (r. 1579–1597). An inventory drawn up 146 With the exception of the years from 1601 to 1606,
when Philip III moved the court to Valladolid. Krahe,
after his death in 1598 lists 170 pieces of porcelain, including many blue-and-white, 2014, Vol. I, pp. 100–101 and p. 194.
147 At the beginning of Philip II’s reign, this building
among the contents of the Kunstkammer he established at the ducal court in Munich. served to lodge officials and workers involved in the
Some may be those acquired in 1582 in Lisbon by Anton Meyting, who when leaving renovation of the palace. In 1570, the building was
temporarily used to keep ‘antiquities’ transferred
for Germany took ‘70 porcelain pieces, large, medium and small’ for William V. 186 from the treasury or Kunstkammer. Some of them
were returned to the casa del Tesoro, when the court
A small Wanli blue-and-white bowl with early seventeenth century metal mounts moved temporarily to Valladolid in 1601. Krahe,
2014, Vol. I, p. 103, note 387.
made in southern Germany (possibly by Augsburg goldsmiths) in the Munich palace, 148 Mentioned in Ibid., p. 103.
known as the Residenz, may be one of those pieces. It is likely that William V’s son 149 Mentioned in Ibid., pp. 106–108.
187
150 Jb., 1898, p. CXXXVI, no. 1521; and Davillier, 1882,
and successor, Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria and Prince Elector of the Holy Roman p. 131. Cited in Canepa, 2014/1, p. 26. For a complete
Empire (r. 1597–1651), 188 ordered the Kraak armorial dish bearing the quartered arms English translation and transcription of the original
Spanish text of this inventory, see AGP, Sección
of Wittelsbach dating to the Tianqi reign, now in the Residenz, which will be discussed Registros, Testament of King Philip II. 1602, in Krahe,
2014, Vol. II, Document 20, pp. 41–53. The 912 plates
in section 3.4.1.1 of this Chapter (Fig. 3.4.1.1.19). Some of the porcelain may have are listed in Fol. 835 as ‘Novecientos doce platos de
189
arrived at the Bavarian ducal court through dynastic relations with the Habsburgs. porcelana, parte de ellos dorados y de colores, y los
190
demas azules y blancos, de un tamaño de trincheos,
It is difficult to assess the quantity and types of porcelain owned by Philip III at tasados a tres reales cada uno’. Also see Krahe,
2014, Vol. I, p. 106.
the time of his death in 1621, as the post-mortem inventory of his possesions has not 151 bid.; and Vol. II, Document 20, pp. 44 and 51. The
I
survived. Furthermore, the extant inventory of the jewellery and objects belonging bowls are listed in Fol. 844 as ‘Seiscientas y sesenta
escudillas de porcelana, del tamaño de las ordinarias
to his wife Margaret of Austria, daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria (r. 1564– y algunas un poco menores, parte de ellas dorados
y parte de ellas azules y blancas y otras de colores,
1590) and Anna of Bavaria, does not mention any pieces of porcelain, except for tasadas a cuatro reales cada una’.
those that were broken and mounted in silver listed in the silver section. From a 152 Krahe, 2014, Vol. I, p. 106, note 403; and Vol. II,
191
Document 20, pp. 42 and 48. The bowls are listed in
manuscript of 1612, we learn that some pieces of porcelain, both with silver mounts Fol. 834 as ‘Doscientas y sesenta y cuarto escudillas
de porcelana, para de ellas doradas y de colores y
and unmounted, were used as everyday tableware at Philip III’s dining table, especially parte azules y blancas, del tamaño de las ordinarias,
154 Silk, Porcelain and Lacquer
to serve a type of soup, called consommé. These include ‘Three porcelains with feet
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algo mayors unas que otras, tasadas a cuatro reales and silver mounts to serve the consommé at the table of His majesty’ and ‘Two large
cada una’.
153 Krahe, 2014, Vol. I, p. 108; and Vol. II, Document porcelains to serve His Majesty’s soup on the fish days. One larger than the other one,
20, pp. 44 and 50. The ewers are listed in Fol. 842 with a border around the spout’. Some pieces of porcelain must have been valued
as ‘Treinta y cinco aguamaniles de porcelana, parte
de ellos dorados y verdes, y otros dorados y azules more than others as they were kept in wooden boxes, such as the ‘Two porcelain bowls
y otros de otros colores, azules y blancos, todos
con sus asas, picos y tapadores, unos menores que from the Indies for the service of His Majesty, inside a wooden box covered in black
otros, todos de differentes hechuras, a algunos leather’. Although in 1617 Philip III and his wife Margaret inherited a considerable
193
les faltan los tapadores, tasados a nueve reales
cada uno’. number of pieces of porcelain that belonged to Philip II and Queen Anna of Austria
154 Linda R. Shulsky, ‘Philip II of Spain as Porcelain
Collector’, Oriental Art, vol. 44, no. 2, 1998, and had not been sold in the auction of 1608, the royal collection of porcelain began
pp. 51–54. Mentioned in Krahe, 2014, p. 109.
155 Jb., 1898, p. CXXXVIII, no. 1606 and p. CXXXIX, to diminish during his reign. The following year, in 1618, according to Simón
194
no. 1629; Davillier, 1882, pp. 133–34. Cited and Palmer, porcelain was offered as tableware to the Prince of Landgrave when he came
illustrated in Shulsky, 1998, pp. 51–52, fig. 1; Canepa,
2014/1, p. 26, fig. 10, and Krahe, 2014, Vol. I, pp. to Madrid. 195
109–110, fig. 36. An example dating to the Jiajing From an account written by Gonzáles Dávila of his visit to the Alcázar in 1623
reign was sold at auction at Sotheby’s London, 6
November 2013, lot 405. Kinrande examples bearing we learn that in the early years of the reign of Philip IV (who ruled Spain from 1621
a Wanli reign mark can be found in the Idemitsu
Museum in Tokyo, the Tokyo National Museum, and to 1665, and Portugal until 1640) the exotic objects imported from China and India
the Jan Menze van Diepen Stitchting Collection in were still displayed together with precious jewellery in the Golden Tower I, where
The Netherlands. Published in Idemitsu Museum
of Arts, The 15th Anniversary Catalogue, Idemitsu they had been kept in the time of his grandfather, Philip II. Philip IV, like his father
Museum of Arts, Tokyo, 1981, cat. 831; Tokyo
National Museum, Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo, 1965, and grandfather, sent porcelain as gifts to his relatives. In 1621, for instance, the King
p. 93, cats. 515 and 543; and Christiaan J.A. Jörg, A sent ‘one hundred and twenty porcelains of different shapes and decorations’ among
Selection from the Collection of Oriental Ceramics.
Jan Menze van Diepen Stichting, Slochteren, 2002, other exotic Asian goods to his aunt Magdalena, Duchess of Tuscany and sister of
p. 32; respectively. Ewers shaped like a Chinese
woman were also made with underglaze cobalt blue Queen Margaret of Austria. Some of the porcelain listed in an inventory taken in
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decoration during the Wanli reign. For two examples 1654 may have been acquired by the King a decade or so earlier, and thus is included
in the form of He Xiangu, and one other in the form
of a female musician, see Harrison-Hall, 2001, pp. in this study. The ‘two white, blue and red porcelain dogs shaped as lions with open
284–285, nos. 11:17, 11:18 and 11:19, respectively.
156 Krahe, 2014, Vol. I, Document 20, pp. 109–110, note mouths and tails like snakes’ may have referred to Buddhist Lion incense stick holders
423. The figures are described in Fol. 847 as ‘Dos (called ‘dog of Fo’ by Westerners) made in Blanc de chine porcelain at the private kilns
figuras de mujer de la china, que son aguamaniles,
dorados y de colores, tasadas a veinte reales cada of Dehua in Fujian province (Appendix 2), such as the example recovered from the
una’; and in Fol. 844v as ‘Una figura de mujer de
la China, de porcelana blanca y dorada tasada en shipwreck of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Limpia y Pura Concepción that
veinte reales’. These pieces are also listed in a sank while en route from Veracruz to Seville in 1641, which will be discussed in the
document dated 1617 related to the objects that
belonged to Philip II and Queen Anna of Austria following pages (Fig. 3.1.2.22). If so, the Blanc de chine pieces would probably have
and had not been sold in the auction of 1608 and
were still in the royal household. AGP, Sección come from China already with blue and red painted decoration.
197
Administración General, Leg. 903, Treasury. 1617. Inventories recently studied by both Gasch-Tomás and Krahe have demonstrated
See, Krahe, 2014, Vol. I, p. 115; and Vol. II, Document
25, p. 76. that there was not a great consumer demand for porcelain (as well as for other Asian
157 Jb., 1898, p. CXL, no. 1687; and Davillier, 1882, p. 135.
Cited in Shulsky, 1998, p. 53; and Canepa, 2014/1, p. goods) in Spain in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Thus pieces of
26. Krahe, 2014, Vol. I, p. 108; and Vol. II, Document porcelain appear only in a limited number of inventories of household goods of the
20, pp. 47 and 53. The kendi is described in Fol.
893v as ‘Una garrafa con cuello alto y una cabeza high-ranking nobility, clergy and wealthy merchants of Madrid, Seville and other
de elefante por pico, de porcelanan azul y blanca
tasada en seis reales’. main cities of Spain. According to Gasch-Tomás, probate inventories of Seville show
158 See section 3.1.1 of this Chapter, note 80. that only the wealthiest inhabitants of this Andalusian city possessed porcelain. As
198
159 A Wanli example bearing the arms of the Portuguese
families Almeida or Melo, attributed to Dom João noted by Krahe, merchants of different nationalities (Portuguese, Italian, French and
de Almeida, who was twice captain of the journey to
Macao (once in 1571–1572 and again in 1581–1582), Flemish), who had important commercial networks, traded Asian and other imported
is in the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul. Three goods in Seville. Some of them even maintained a network of agents in the New World.
elephant-shaped kendi of a slightly different shape
were recovered from the Wanli shipwreck (c.1625), The elites of Seville who desired porcelain were also able to acquire it, alongside silk
and as mentioned earlier, shards of one other that
appears to have been similar to the Almeida or Melo as shown in Chapter II, through gifts and orders sent by relatives or personal contacts
example were found at the survivor’s campsite from living in New Spain. From Seville, merchants distributed the porcelain, which was
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the São Gonçalo (1630). For the armorial example,
see Krahl and Ayers, Vol. II, 1986, p. 730, no. 1295 carried in packs woven from esparto grass or canvas stretched over wooden frames, in
and colour plate p. 460. The Wanli shipwreck and
São Gonçalo (1630) finds, are published in Sjostrand wicker basquets, or in chests, via a road network that connected the main cities.
200
and Lok Lok bt. Syed Idrus, 2007, pp. 90-91, serial no. The following are a few examples of inventories of the nobility, clergy and
1127; Canepa, 2012/1, p. 261, fig. 4; and Malan and
Klose, 2014, p. 160, fig. 11. The San Diego example merchants that list porcelain among their belongings. An inventory taken between
was previously published in Canepa, 2008–2009, p.
65, fig. 2. August 1573 and May 1574 of the belongings of Don Ruy Gómez de Silva, Prince of
Trade in Chinese Porcelain 155