Description:
Silver-plated, paktong rococo standish or inkstand that housed equipment for writing and sealing letters, which was later electroplated in silver. An alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc perfected by the Chinese as early as 200 B.C., paktong was known in Europe in the late 16th century, but not exported in any quantity before the 18th century and then usually to England via the English East India Company. Also known in the 18th century as “tutenage” or “tooth and egg,” paktong long remained the exclusive purview of the Chinese. Europeans did not possess the technology to separate nickel from its ore until the third quarter of the 18th century; they fabricated some European paktong objects using the foreign metal in the 18th century, but most were exported from China and India. By the 1830s, German metallurgists had successfully imitated the Chinese metal, calling it German silver. This combination of metals produced a very pale, yellowish base metal suitable for casting; when freshly polished, this alloy is white in color and very similar in appearance to silver, and its durability resisted dents or scratches. In the 19th century, artisans primarily used this alloy as the base for silver-plated objects. Although related to English rococo silver cruet stands, Chinese craftsmen probably manufactured this standish for the English export market. According to Keith Pinn, the form does not correspond to English brass and silver examples; capable of reproducing any item presented to them, Chinese artisans could create objects virtually indistinguishable from the Western originals. The construction of the standish displays a lavish amount of labor and effort not typically found in Western work. Further evidence of Chinese manufacture appears in the characteristically Asian stippled and engraved pattern on the top of this example’s hand bell in the form of flowers and leaves. The 4-lobed rectangular tray has an inkwell with a round hole in the top; sander with perforated top and threaded lip; vessel for sealing wax with a solid lid with finial; small hand bell to sumon a servant; 2 moveable, scrolled candle arms; center bail handle; scissor-form candle snuffer; and is supported on 4 shell feet. The piece is composed almost entirely of cast parts riveted together. The tray has 18 mostly cast pieces, riveted together with plates and brass pins. One side has a rococo cartouche (blank) with scrolls and ruffles; the opposite has a triangular mount for the snuffer; and the other two sides have baluster-style sockets to hold the candle arm posts (the sockets and posts are paired with registration marks to show their proper positions). The cantilevered candle arms rotate in their sockets and hold candles that provide light for writing and heat for melting sealing wax. Each arm has a S-shaped branch above the post; the shaped candle sockets screw down over the drip pan into the arms' threaded tops. Scrolled arms extend from the four feet, supporting rings to hold the bell and three vessels in place. The bell has a turned horn handle and a round guard with a floral pattern, which fits into one of the tray rings; a clapper is attached inside the bell. The handle has a hinged top over a simple baluster turned stem. "551" is inscribed on the underside corner of the tray, which may a fake Chinese mark.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+59.177 |
