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Lot Essay
Lots 229, 230 and 231 represent a fascinating moment in the history of English silver. Dated 1682-83, all are flat-chased with Chinoiserie scenes. Chinoiserie chasing enjoyed popularity in the 1680s and 90s. As such these three lots are early examples of this style. These vivid depictions of Chinoiserie scenes are as compelling to the modern eye, with its ready knowledge of other cultures through travel and film as they must have been for London’s wealthy families of the 1680s, for whom the cultures of the East were but a dream in the mind’s eye. Knowledge of China and Japan for the citizens of 17th century London was stitched together from traveler’s written accounts and engravings, goods like lacquer and porcelain shipped home by the East India Company, the taste of expensive imported tea and plays staged in London theatres. Likewise, the sources informing Chinoiserie flat-chasing are a varied mélange.
John Nieuhoff’s An Embassy to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperor of China, Amsterdam, 1685 and London, 1669 may have been the source for the flat-chasing of lot 230, a porringer and cover, which depicts a woman on a donkey lead by a man. An engraving of the same subject is printed in Nieuhoff, p. 169, along with a description of the wonderings of pimps and prostitutes in search of custom. The reverse of the porringer, depicting an a man horse may be the ‘Heaoring Blades and Wild Gallants’ which Nieuhoff describes as the regular customer. A man, whose wide hat is particularly conspicuous, sits near a handle of the porringer. The figure recalls Nieurhoff’s description of a begging priest who ‘Upon his head he has a Cap, which on both sides hath long Feathers to defend him against the Sun and Rain…They seldom go about Begging, but sit upon the ground…’ (Nieurhoff, op. cit. p. 220).
The distinctive coiled and pointed clouds on the cover of the inkstand (lot 231) must recall Chinese porcelain painting. A point developed by P. Glanville in her analysis of the Brownlow Tankards which share this cloud motif (See Ortiz-Patiño Collection; Sotheby’s, New York, 21 May 1992, lot 143). Glanville links the dolphin fountain troupe (one can be seen on the cover of the inkstand) to the elaborate stage settings of such plays as Elkanah Settle’s The conquest of China by the Tartars (June and July 1675).
LOT 229
The form of this cup, based upon that of an imported Chinese porcelain tea bowl, distinguishes it from other silver of this type, which are generally European in form. P. Glanville notes that few teawares with Chinoiserie flat-chasing are recorded, excluding ‘chocolate cups’ which probably originally accompanied toilet services. (see Ortiz-Patiño collection, Sotheby’s, New York, 21 May 1992).
The present cup and stand may once have been part of a toilet service, now lost. The heat conducting properties of silver mean this form is unsatisfactory to use. This design flaw probably explains the scarcity of the form in silver. A pair of silver-gilt cups with S scroll handles, on stands, mark of FS over S with crown above, sold The Whiteley Trust Silver Collection; Christie’s, London, 13 June 2000, lot 13 (97,250 GBP). J. Hayward in Huguenot Silver in England 1688-1720, London, 1959, p.59 cites the Whitley cups as the earliest examples of tea-cups. The present cup however, predates the Whitley examples by five years. Another cup, also of tea bowl form and flat-chased with Chinoiserie birds amongst foliage above a matted band, mark of GS, London, 1683 is in the Fitzwilliam Museum (M/P.1-1944).
John Nieuhoff’s An Embassy to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperor of China, Amsterdam, 1685 and London, 1669 may have been the source for the flat-chasing of lot 230, a porringer and cover, which depicts a woman on a donkey lead by a man. An engraving of the same subject is printed in Nieuhoff, p. 169, along with a description of the wonderings of pimps and prostitutes in search of custom. The reverse of the porringer, depicting an a man horse may be the ‘Heaoring Blades and Wild Gallants’ which Nieuhoff describes as the regular customer. A man, whose wide hat is particularly conspicuous, sits near a handle of the porringer. The figure recalls Nieurhoff’s description of a begging priest who ‘Upon his head he has a Cap, which on both sides hath long Feathers to defend him against the Sun and Rain…They seldom go about Begging, but sit upon the ground…’ (Nieurhoff, op. cit. p. 220).
The distinctive coiled and pointed clouds on the cover of the inkstand (lot 231) must recall Chinese porcelain painting. A point developed by P. Glanville in her analysis of the Brownlow Tankards which share this cloud motif (See Ortiz-Patiño Collection; Sotheby’s, New York, 21 May 1992, lot 143). Glanville links the dolphin fountain troupe (one can be seen on the cover of the inkstand) to the elaborate stage settings of such plays as Elkanah Settle’s The conquest of China by the Tartars (June and July 1675).
LOT 229
The form of this cup, based upon that of an imported Chinese porcelain tea bowl, distinguishes it from other silver of this type, which are generally European in form. P. Glanville notes that few teawares with Chinoiserie flat-chasing are recorded, excluding ‘chocolate cups’ which probably originally accompanied toilet services. (see Ortiz-Patiño collection, Sotheby’s, New York, 21 May 1992).
The present cup and stand may once have been part of a toilet service, now lost. The heat conducting properties of silver mean this form is unsatisfactory to use. This design flaw probably explains the scarcity of the form in silver. A pair of silver-gilt cups with S scroll handles, on stands, mark of FS over S with crown above, sold The Whiteley Trust Silver Collection; Christie’s, London, 13 June 2000, lot 13 (97,250 GBP). J. Hayward in Huguenot Silver in England 1688-1720, London, 1959, p.59 cites the Whitley cups as the earliest examples of tea-cups. The present cup however, predates the Whitley examples by five years. Another cup, also of tea bowl form and flat-chased with Chinoiserie birds amongst foliage above a matted band, mark of GS, London, 1683 is in the Fitzwilliam Museum (M/P.1-1944).