Tankard
1683-1684
- Medium
- silver
- Measurements
- 19.5 × 22.2 × 14.3 cm
- 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
- 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.
