Lot 60

THE COLLECTION OF J. JEFFERSON AND ANNE WEILER MILLERAnne and Jeff Miller shared a life-long enthusiasm for the decorative arts, building a significant collection of American folk art (sold in a major one-owner auction at Pook & Pook Inc in April 2015) as well as a charming collection of European subject Chinese export porcelain. Jeff claimed that receiving a "Lowestoft" platter as a wedding present in 1948 sparked his interest in porcelain. In their 57 years of collecting, the couple enjoyed attending numerous auctions and symposia and formed close relationships with knowledgeable dealers, scholars, and fellow collectors. Jeff, a decorated WWII veteran, returned home to study at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland. Following a number of years in the legal profession, Jeff subsequently left the practice of law to follow his passion and enrolled in the American Material Culture program at Winterthur Museum. In 1962 Jeff became a curator in the Department of Ceramics and Glass at the Smithsonian Institution. Some years later, when Jeff retired, the couple returned to Baltimore and Jeff became Acting Director of the Maryland Historical Society. The couple remained deeply involved in a number of arts institutions in their native Baltimore. For the whole of their lives, Anne and Jeff enjoyed living amidst their multiple collections and entertaining family and friends in their wonderful home. As Jeff wrote, "There is sustained enjoyment in just having these old things around me, and in having knowledge about them."

A RARE BLACK-GROUND 'TRUMPETER' PLATE

CIRCA 1740

Details

A RARE BLACK-GROUND 'TRUMPETER' PLATE
CIRCA 1740
With two Turkish musicians, possibly inspired by or after Cornelis Pronk, gilt spearhead at the rim, all on a lustrous black ground
8 1/8 in. (22.5 cm)

Provenance

Christie's, London, June 1996, lot 282.

Lot Essay

Howard and Ayers, (China For the West, vol.1, p.305) suggest that this was undoubtedly a specially commissioned design, since the shapes of pieces are those of European tea-services in about 1740 and as it illustrates music played 'eastward of the Levant', and discuss the possibility that the pattern may have been designed by Cornelis Pronk for a private order through the VOC.

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