Lot Essay
Compare the blue and white beakers recovered from the Vung Tau cargo, which sank in circa 1690, and which sold in Christie's Amsterdam, 7 and 8 April 1992, lots 50 - 85. The Vung Tau beakers varied in size from about 4in. to 12in. in height and often had covers, but were not faceted. See David S. Howard, op.cit., p.236, no.279 for the beaker and cover from this Cargo, now in the Hodroff Collection, where the author suggests that although the 4in. beakers would have been used for drinking, the larger ones, as in the case of the present lot, were intended for decoration on wall brackets or shelves. These beakers would have been made for the Dutch market. See also C. Le Corbeiller, op.cit., p.27, no.9, for a similar slightly larger blue and white ribbed beaker from the Helena Woolworth McCann Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and a smaller beaker in the Groningen Museum, illustrated by T. Volker, Porcelain and the Dutch East India Company, pl.XI, fig.19.