THE PORCELAIN CHONGZHEN PERIOD, CIRCA 1640, THE MOUNTS CONTINENTAL, LATE 17TH CENTURY

Two tankards of this type, with a similar decorative scheme of a wide, continuous scene between thin scroll bands, are in the British Museum, London, and illustrated by Jessica Harrison-Hall in Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pp. 358-359, nos. 12:11 and 12:12. Harrison-Hall notes that tankards of this type, “are modeled after Dutch stoneware or wooden prototypes and were made exclusively for export to Europe with Chinese 'tranistional’-style figurative designs.” (ibid., p. 358) She also notes several tankards, such as the present example, with European silver and silver-gilt mounts, some of which are dated, including one in the Hamburg Museum dated to 1642.
For another tankard of this type from the Curtis Collection see lot 3534 in this catalogue. Also see an example from the Butler Family Collection, illustrated by Michael Butler and Wang Qingzheng in Seventeenth Century Jingdezhen Porcelain from the Shanghai Museum and the Butler Collection: Beauty’s Enchantment, London, 2006, p. 323, no. 121.