Description:
Martin Luther (1483-1546) was the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Northern Europea during its split from the Roman Catholic Church. Regarded as the starting point of the Reformation, Luther nailed "Ninety-Five Theses" to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenburg in 1517, and the movement spread across Europe. He translated the Bible into venacular German. He was excommunicated by Pope Leo X in 1521. Chinese export porcelain round plate decorated en grisaille (or encre de chine or ink color) with a swan over an oval portrait of Martin Luther, flanked by two angels, over the initials "D.M:Z" over an oval cartouche with Jesus in the center flanked by the twelve disciples; and a border with six alternating scenes of boar and deer hunts in the "du Paquier" style of Vienna porcelain. Martin Luther (1483-1546) was the leader of the Protestant Reformation of the Christian Church in northern Europe and made an important and influential new translation of the Bible. His portrait bust and the scene below copy the lower half of an engraving by Dutch artist Frans Brun (active 1627-1648) after a design by Crispin de Passe II (c.1597-1670). The title page of the first octavo Lutheran Bible printed in 1734 and subsequent editions included this engraving. Howard and Ayers have suggested that this particular design was commissioned to commemorate the bicentenary in 1746 of Luther's death rather than being part of a dinner service. (Portraits of Martin Luther also appear on pieces for the service of tea.) It appears that this design was popular for several years beyond the bicentenary as there is a plate with the date 1756. Other versions of this design are also known including using a variety of borders and the legend "Dr. M.L." and omiting the scene of Christ and the Apostles. Chinese enamelers developed ink-color decoration as a method of reproducing print images on porcelain for the western market. Dominated by black enamels and washes, ink-color decoration was first produced in the 1730s and remained popular throughout the 18th century. Often period documents refer to this decoration as "pencil'd," reflecting its use of fine brush strokes and black color.
Subjects:
Pottery; Enamel and enameling; glaze (coating by location); Porcelain Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+59.032 |
