Description:
Chinese export porcelain egg cup, a rare form in Chinese export ware, in the Famille rose palette in red, pink, orange, purple, yellow, and green, which was made for the European - possibly German - market. Eggs were a regular part of European dining in the 17th and 18th centuries. Some silver egg cups were meant to hold the egg horizontally after the German tradition, which seems to have been the earliest way of serving them. Made in Augsburg and Strasbourg these egg cups were included in the toilette or breakfast services in the 18th century. In contrast eggs were served vertically in France, England, and other Latin countries. The difference was discussed in a 1644 German book by Georg Hardsdorffer, where he notes: "The French crack the egg on top; we Germans crack it open on the side." Early silver egg cups made in Augsburg in the 1730s combined both techniques of eating eggs - with the round cup on the bottom and the oval side cup on the top (or vice versa.) This example has a circular base and an ovoid shaped cup for holding the egg. The base of this cup would not have been as stable as one would like for cracking an egg and the stem is rather long in comparison to the other silver and Chinese export porcelain examples. There are bands of flowers around the exterior of the oval cup and circular, splayed foot; red bands around the cup and base rim edges; and four pink floral sprays in the cup well. The pedestal has three bands: two purple and yellow scale designs and one 'feather-meander' pattern.
Subjects:
Pottery; Enamel and enameling; glaze (coating by location); polychrome; Porcelain Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+59.059 |
