Description:
Dark blue colored tin glaze with white decoration on earthenware is called "bleu persan" or "bleu de Nevers" reflecting its origins. Pottery made in Persia in the 14th century was decorated in white on a comparable dark blue glaze and this was copied by the French potteries of Nevers in the 17th Century. (Nevers is in central France – in the Burgundy region about 150 miles south of Paris.) The seated Chinese scholar or Chinese figure among the rocks – originates from Chinese porcelain made in the so-called Ming Transitional style of the late 16th century continuing into the reign of the Qing Emperor Kangxi. English potters both in London and in Brislington (near Bristol) appear to have copied French tin-glazed earthenware, and references to “Blew Ware” or pottery in imitation of “Persian Ware” in late 17th-century documents seem to signify this type of decoration. Fragments decorated similarly to this mug have been excavated at kiln sites in London - specifically at Norfolk House Pottery in Lambeth. Although scientific testing has attempted to differentiate between bleu persan wares from different countries, the results so far have been largely inconclusive. Examples of bleu persan wares have not yet been found in the Connecticut River Valley, but are known in early settlements in Maine (Chadbourne site in South Berwick), Williamsburg, Virginia, and Angelica Knoll, Maryland. There is also a blue persan porringer (splashed decoration) with a history in the Warren Family is owned by Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth, MA. A nice addition to this mug is the period silver rim – which undoubtedly covers a chip received during its years of use. Repairs made of precious metals served the dual purpose of restoring the objects’ usefulness while also enhancing their value and beauty. Cylindrical thrown mug molded with a horizontal band at the rim and applied with a loop handle, covered all over in a dark blue colored tin glaze and painted in white with a continuous scene of a seated Chinese scholar among foliage and rockwork, a zig-zag and circle border around the silver-mounted rim, the mount marked with two maker’s illegible marks. Paper label on the bottom for the Anne H. and Frederick Vogel III collection. Condition: some restoration to the body
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2019.4.1 |
