Lot Essay
Animal tureens made a spectacular accompaniment to table services and were very popular during the mid 18th Century, often accompanied by dishes or stands. Large tureens of the size of the present lot can be found in the form of ducks, boars and oxheads. Smaller vegetable and sauce tureens are more frequently found in the form of quail, crabs, chickens and ducks.
Although obviously derived from European ceramic models, which became increasingly fashionable in the 1740's, it is not possible to ascertain the actual prototypes. According to D. Howard and J. Ayers, op.cit., 1978, vol.III, p.590-592, the faience models produced in the Strasburg factory under the influence of Adam von Löwenfinck from 1750-54 represent the most likely originals for the Chinese examples. Produced in China over a period of approximately twenty years, they range from very naturalistic to more fanciful interpretations in the famille rose palette, which are generally considered to be of a later date. This lot appears to belong to the latter group. A comparable set of such elaborately enamelled animal tureens made is for a large armorial service, made for the Spanish family of Asteguita, illustrated and exhibited, The Art of the Qing Potter: Important Chinese Export Porcelain, New York, 1997, p.71, col.pl.50.
Similar tureens, of the larger type with distinctively long necks, beaks and crests, are illustrated and exhibited, The Animal in Chinese Art, O.C.S., London, 1968, catalogue no.297; in the McCann Collection, J.G. Phillips, op.cit., 1960, pl.72, p.160; in the C.T. Loo Collection, M. Beurdeley, op.cit., 1962, cat.102, p.172; and D. Howard and J. Ayers, ibid, p.595, no.615. Another similar example is at Polesden Lacey Surrey, The National Trust, Guidebook, Surrey, 1974, comp
Although obviously derived from European ceramic models, which became increasingly fashionable in the 1740's, it is not possible to ascertain the actual prototypes. According to D. Howard and J. Ayers, op.cit., 1978, vol.III, p.590-592, the faience models produced in the Strasburg factory under the influence of Adam von Löwenfinck from 1750-54 represent the most likely originals for the Chinese examples. Produced in China over a period of approximately twenty years, they range from very naturalistic to more fanciful interpretations in the famille rose palette, which are generally considered to be of a later date. This lot appears to belong to the latter group. A comparable set of such elaborately enamelled animal tureens made is for a large armorial service, made for the Spanish family of Asteguita, illustrated and exhibited, The Art of the Qing Potter: Important Chinese Export Porcelain, New York, 1997, p.71, col.pl.50.
Similar tureens, of the larger type with distinctively long necks, beaks and crests, are illustrated and exhibited, The Animal in Chinese Art, O.C.S., London, 1968, catalogue no.297; in the McCann Collection, J.G. Phillips, op.cit., 1960, pl.72, p.160; in the C.T. Loo Collection, M. Beurdeley, op.cit., 1962, cat.102, p.172; and D. Howard and J. Ayers, ibid, p.595, no.615. Another similar example is at Polesden Lacey Surrey, The National Trust, Guidebook, Surrey, 1974, comp