Description:
Chinese export procelain chocolate cup (HD 2010.8.7.1) with an ear-shaped handle and saucer (HD 2010.8.7.2) decorated in underglaze blue with Neptune standing on two dolphins accompanied by frolicking nymphs and tritons, one of whom is blowing a horn. The scene is based on a drawing by the Dutch painter and printmaker Abraham Bloemaert (1564/6-1651) of Neptune holding his trident and calming the waves after a storm caused by Juno (the theme taken from Book I of Virgil's Aeneid), which was engraved by Abraham's son, Frederick Bloemaert (1610-1669). The interior rim has a diaper band used in the Chinese repertoire of border designs for c.1755-1775, which followed the coarser trellis design popular since the 1740's. Similar designs for chocolate cups and handles were sent by the Dutch East India Company to China for copying, see Christiaan J. A. Jörg, Interaction in Ceramics: Oriental Porcelain & Delftware, exhibition catalogue, (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1984), p. 28, fig. 7. The seven sheets of drawings are located in the State Archives of The Hague.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2010.8.7.1 |
