Page 273 - Chinese and japanese porcelain silk and lacquer Canepa

Fig. 3.4.1.1.27 Large blue-and-white
armorial dish
Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province
Ming dynasty, Wanli reign (1573-1620),
c.1590–1635
Diameter: 51cm
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts
(museum no. AE85571)
Fig. 3.4.1.1.28 Carved stoned mounted in the
entrance hall of the Senate building in Macao
China
© Francisco Vizheu Pinheiro
1582 to 1602 by the Jesuits in Macao (Fig. 3.4.1.1.23). Visual sources and surviving commissioners of these bottles: Diogo de Vilas-
869
Boas Caminha, Morgado de Airó, Álvaro de Vilas-
pieces attest to the popularity of bowls of this type among other foreign customers, Boas, Francisco da Costa (nephew of Álvaro de
especially the Dutch and Iranians. A large bowl filled with fish, similar to an example Vilas-Boas) and Pedro Vaz Vilas-Boas. Pinto de
Matos, 2011, p. 168; and Canepa, 2012/1, p. 272.
in the British Museum illustrated here (Fig. 3.4.1.1.24), is depicted on a still life 855 The bottle (illustrated here) and the two-handled jar
are published in Rinaldi, 1989, p. 169, pl. 211 and p.
painting by the Dutch artist Willem Claesz. Heda (1593/4–1680/2), dated 1638 (Fig. 191, pl. 253, respectively.
3.4.1.1.25), and an Iranian fritware bowl copying faithfully the original dating to the 856 Shards of a few Zhengde dishes and a bottle, all
marked with the cross of the Portuguese Order
second half of the seventeenth century is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The of Christ, are discussed and illustrated at the
870
beginning of this section of Chapter III.
other Kraak pseudo-armorial, depicted as a water fountain within a shield, is painted 857 Canepa, 2008/2, p. 51, fig. 28; Canepa, 2008–2009,
on the centre of three saucer dishes with plain white and moulded rim decoration (Fig. p. 75, fig. 12; Díaz, 2010, pp. 87–91, no. 3; Canepa,
2012/1, p. 275, fig. 26; Canepa, 2014/1, p. 27,
3.4.1.1.26). The source of this pseudo-armorial is still unknown, but the fountain fig. 11; and Canepa, 2014/2, p. 120, fig. 11.
871
858 Teresa was the daughter of Pedro de Castro y
motif somewhat resembles that shown on the Jiajing blue-and-white ‘magic fountain’ Andrade, Count of Villalba and Lemos and Marquis
ewers and bottles discussed above (Figs. 3.4.1.1.10 and 3.4.1.1.11). of Sarriá and of Leonor de la Cueva, daughter of
Beltrán de la Cueva, 1st Duke of Albuquerque
As we have seen, motifs related to the Christian Church first appeared on (c.1443–1492), and the favourite of King Enrique IV
of Castile (r. 1454–1474). Mentioned in Osorio, 2008,
porcelain made for the Portuguese during the reigns of Zhengde and early Jiajing. But p. 74.
it was not until the subsequent reign of Wanli, that Jesuit missionaries and Augustinian 859 Ibid., pp. 63–64.
860 This dish is now in the Residenz Museum. The
friars active in the Far East began to order porcelain with their individual emblems or museum curators purchased the dish from an art
dealer, who had no records of its provenance. A
monograms. All the pieces recorded so far, dating from the Wanli to Chongzhen similar coat of arms and collar of the Order of the
872
reign, are made in blue-and-white porcelain, either of the Kraak or ordinary trade Golden Fleece appear depicted on a pietra dura
table made in Florence in c.1625, which is also in
type. Eight heavily potted Kraak jars of large ovoid form and one other of hexagonal the Residenz. This table together with two large
fragments of dishes with similar rim decoration
form, as well as two hexagonal jars of smaller size, are painted with pentagonal panels recovered from the Wanli shipwreck (c.1625), but
enclosing the emblem of the Augustinian Order and exotic animals surmounted by an as discussed earlier probably c.1630–1635, strongly
suggest a dating of c.1625–1635 for the dish. For
architectural motif of unknown origin. In addition, there are two large dishes made the armorial dish see Ulrichs, 2005, p. 10; and
873
Eikelmann, 2009, pp. 48–49, cat. no. 5. For the Wanli
in ordinary trade porcelain during the same period, which bear a similar Augustinian shipwreck shards, see Sten Sjostrand and Sharipah
emblem at the centre encircled by two borders of purely Chinese motifs. The rim Lok Lok bt. Syed Idrus, p. 166, serials nos. 2684 and
7534. The author previously dated the dish to c.1625
border depicts twice an architectural motif similar to that seen on the aforementioned in Canepa, 2012/1, p. 275, note 115; and Canepa,
2014/1, p. 253, note 92.
jars alternating with tiny human figures, animals, birds in flight and flowering branches 861 For a brief discussion on this diplomatic gift and an
(Fig. 3.4.1.1.27). Sargent has suggested that the architectural motif depicted in image of an ewer from the service, see Davies and
874
Kennedy, 2009, pp. 47–48, pl. 30.
both the jars and dishes relates to colonial churches in New Spain. One may argue, 862 This dish is in the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem,
875
Massachusetts. Published in Canepa, 2008/2,
however, that all the religious compounds built in Macao whether by the Augustinian, p. 52, fig. 30 (image reversed); Canepa, 2008–2009,
Franciscan and Dominican Mendicant Orders or the Jesuits were walled. There is no p. 74, fig. 11 (image reversed); and Sargent, 2012,
876
pp. 101–103, no. 25.
firm evidence as to who commissioned these jars. Portuguese or Spanish Augustinian 863 This saucer dish was formerly in the Santos Palace in
Lisbon. Lion-Goldschmidt, 1984, pp. 44–5, figs. 80,
friars most probably ordered them for use at their churches or convents in Macao, the 81 and 82.
272 Silk, Porcelain and Lacquer
Figs. 3.4.1.1.29a and b Kraak jar bearing the
‘IHS’ monogram
Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province
Ming dynasty, Tianqi/Chongzhen reign
(1621–1644)
Height: 33.2cm
British Museum, London
(museum no. OA 1963.5-20-4)
Philippines or New Spain. The Augustinian emblem carved on a stone fountain at the
864 This bowl, housed in the Gemeentemuseum in
Arnhem, is published in Stephen Hartog, Pronken church of Our Lady of Grace built at Velha (Old) Goa between 1507 and 1602, and
Met Oosters Porselein, exhibition catalogue, on a stone mounted in the entrance Hall of the Senate Building in Macao suggest a
Gemeentemuseum Arnhem, Zwolle, 1990, pp. 44–
45, no. 16. Portuguese connection (Fig. 3.4.1.1.28). The fact that the large hexagonal jar and
877
865 The bowl in the British Museum is also published
in Harrison-Hall, 2001, pp. 300–01, no. 11:63. The two examples of ovoid form were found in Mexico, on the other hand, would suggest
other was recently sold in the international market that such jars were imported by the Spaniards into New Spain. They were probably
at Nagel Auktionen on May 10, 2013, lot 46.
866 This jar was sold at auction by Skinner, Boston, June first ordered in c.1575, when the Augustinians made their first of several voyages. As
878
24, 2000, lot 607. Mentioned in Sargent, 2011, p. 103.
867 This publication is available in the Münchener noted by Sargent, there appear to have been multiple orders of such jars over a period
DigitalisierungsZentrum, Digitale Bibliothek. of time. It seems likely that the orders of these porcelain jars and dishes related to
879
868 I am grateful to Roy Sit Kai Sin, Macao Museum, for
providing me with an image of this shard. Published that of the silks finely woven with a repeated crowned double-headed eagle made in
in Canepa, 2012, p. 274, fig. 24.
869 The façade of the Cathedral – the largest Catholic the second half of the sixteenth century discussed in Chapter II, which also show
Church in Asia at the time – was intricately carved hybrid designs incorporating a European motif with many others that are undoubtedly
between 1620 and 1627 under the direction of the
Italian Jesuit Carlo Spinola. An inscription carved Chinese (Figs. 2.3.1.1 and 2.3.1.4).
on the stone in Chinese characters describes the
seven-headed hydra as ‘the Holy Mother tramples Four heavily-potted Kraak jars of large size and similar ovoid form to those
the heads of the dragon’. Canepa, 2008/2, p. 53. discussed above are painted with six ogival panels, two enclosing the monogram of
870 The Iranian fritware bowl bears an imitation of a
Chinese seal mark on its base, which is not found the Society of Jesus (the sacred letters ‘IHS’) supported by two angels and two
880
on any of the Kraak pieces known with this pseudo-
armorial. The painting and the fritware bowl are winged cherubs, and the other four the symbols of the Passion and the initials ‘S’
published in Harrison-Hall, 2001, p. 301, no. 11:63, and ‘P’ referring to St. Paul, the name given to all the Jesuit colleges in the Far East
figs. 1 and 2. The painting is also published in
Canepa, 2008/2, p. 53, fig. 33. (Figs. 3.4.1.1.29a and b). These jars, like those with the Augustinian emblem, were
881
871 Two of these dishes, formerly in the Neuwenhuys
Collection, were donated to the Gemeentemuseum probably made to contain wine or sacred oils. It is likely that they were intended for
in 2008. They are published in Lu, 2009, p. 43, the Jesuit colleges at Macao or Goa. While the neck and foot feature Kraak borders,
882
ill. 2; and a single example in Canepa, 2012/1, p. 275,
fig. 25. the dense design composition surrounding the ogival panels on the body includes
872 Porcelain made to order for other religious
congregations was only produced from the reign of exotic flower scrolls with bunches of carnations and other flowers gracefully springing
emperor Kangxi onwards, during the Qing dynasty. from tufts of curling leaves. Similar flower scrolls are seen in a few other large jars
Examples of porcelain pieces commissioned for
the Franciscans and Dominicans, as well as of decorated with Chinese motifs typical of the so-called Transitional style, also dating to
pieces with Christian iconography, both Catholic
and Protestant, are discussed and illustrated in the last reigns of the Ming dynasty, the Tianqi and Chongzhen. Interestingly, one of
883
Luísa Vinhais and Jorge Welsh (eds.), Imagens do these jars housed in the British Museum appears to also have been made for a foreign
Christianismo na Porcelana da China – Christian
Images in Chinese Porcelain, exhibition catalogue, customer, as it is decorated with four oval cartouches of archers in turbans possibly
London and Lisbon, 2003.
873 Jars of ovoid form can be found in the Museu copied from a Persian source, which cover partly a landscape border with Chinese
Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon, the Royal figures and European-style houses. The jars discussed above may have been made at
Collection at Windsor Castle, the Peabody Essex
Museum in Salem, the Roberto Backmann Collection the private kiln of Shibaqiao, located about 500 metres away from the southern gate
in Lisbon (formerly in the Apoim Calvão Collection),
and the Hodroff Collection in the United States. of the Imperial kilns in Jingdezhen, where shards of a vase decorated with landscape
Trade in Chinese Porcelain 273