Pot
Author: Unknown
Origin: China
Dating: c.1760 (Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period)
Material: Porcelain
Dimensions (cm): 133,6 x Ø 52,7
Inv. no.: PD0490
One of two large lidded pots – known as “Sentinel Pots” – with blown blue glaze. It is still possible to see faint traces of gold, indicating that there was a dense floral decoration, similar to brocades. Each lid is topped by a Buddhist lion.
It is believed that “Sentinel Pots” would decorate the interiors of palaces, flanking the access to halls and replacing the men who stood there as “sentinels or guards of honour”. In other words, the pots replaced the men and took their name. Another theory for the adoption of the term “Sentinel Pot” originated in a rather unusual exchange of goods between Augustus the Strong – Elector of Saxony and King of Poland – and Wilhelm I of Prussia. Augustus traded a regiment of fit, well-trained men for 151 pieces of oriental porcelain from the palaces of Charlottenburg and Oranienburg. Among the pieces, there were 48 large blue and white lidded pots, which, due to their size, were compared to the Regiment’s men.
