Tureen with Platter
Author: Unknown
Origin: China
Dating: c.1750-60 (Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period)
Material: Porcelain
Dimensions (cm): 19,2 x 33,7 x Ø 37,5
Inv. no.: PD0390
An octagonal tureen, in white porcelain, with lid and platter. The pieces are painted in cobalt blue with Chinese fauna and flora motifs: a deer among shrubs, pine trees, bamboo, a plum tree flowering, peonies. The tureen has handles shaped as rabbit’s heads and the lid has pomegranate-shaped knob.
In all probability, this piece was modelled after a European silver tureen. Known documentation of this period attests that full dinner services with European motifs were commissioned, often with the purchaser’s coat of arms.
Porcelain emerged, in China, between the 6th and 7th centuries, as an improvement of stoneware – obtained due to the use of a plastic clay (kaolin) fired at high temperatures (+1200 ºC or +2192 ºF).
It began to be produced in the Tang dynasty (618-906), having developed intensely in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) with the discovery of kaolin. It reached perfection in the mid-14th century.
