Tankard
1683-1684
Medium
silver
Measurements
19.5 × 22.2 × 14.3 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1932
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Metalware was often one of the first mediums to register the impact of new stylistic influences, and some of the earliest manifestations of English Chinoiserie occur on flat-chased decorated silverware. This seventeenth-century tankard is decorated with figures of men in dress inspired by Asian costume standing amidst extravagant foliage inhabited by strange, exotic birds. No single source for this imagery can be traced, but similar scenes are to be found on ceramics, textiles, lacquer and in illustrated travel books.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
London, England
Inscription
punched (vertically) in rear u.l.: (crown) / EN / (dot)
punched (diagonally) in rear u.l.: (crowned leopard's head)
punched (inverted) in rear u.c.l.: (lion passant)
punched (vertically) in rear u.c.l.: f
punched in handle c.: (crown) / EN / (dot)
engraved (vertically) in base c.l.: 29 = 12
Accession Number
3309-D3
Department
International Decorative Arts