Jug with Portuguese arms

Unknown

ca. 1520–40 · Hard-paste porcelain with cobalt blue under transparent glaze (Jingdezhen ware) · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This ewer with the Portuguese royal arms is witness to the first East-West trade in Chinese porcelain carried on by the Portuguese in the mid-sixteenth century. The form is neither Chinese nor European; rather, it is based on an Islamic metalwork vessel made for the Near Eastern market that was appropriated for the new European trade. The Chinese painters have misunderstood the Portuguese coat of arms, which appears upside down.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1520–40

Medium

Hard-paste porcelain with cobalt blue under transparent glaze (Jingdezhen ware)

Culture

Chinese, for Portuguese market

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Helena Woolworth McCann Collection, Purchase, Winfield Foundation Gift, 1961