413.
JAR
PORCELAIN DECORATED IN FAMILLE VERTE ENAMELS AND
GOLD
QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722), CA. 1700-1720
ARMS: SÃO PAIO (FROM THE COUNT OF SÃO PAIO), MELO
HEIGHT 109 CM; RIM DIAMETER 28.5 CM;
FOOT DIAMETER 32.5 CM
INV. NO. 93
A tall baluster-shaped jar, thick and heavily
potted, with a broad neck and raised, slightly
everted rim, set on a base ring.
The decoration is painted in
famille verte
enamels and gold, in which green
predominates. On the opposite sides of the
jar, the coat of arms of the Sampaio e Melo
family is presented in the same way as on
the previous pieces. Here, the coats of arms
stand out on a field with scattered leafy
stems forming a spiral, each spiral enclosing
a flower. This field is enclosed above by a
pendant border and below by a rising band of
matching lappets with scrolls of vegetation
on a green background. The smaller lappets
contain a chrysanthemum while the larger
ones contain a peony with a bud. A simple
band of petals decorates the base, while the
shoulder is encircled by another band with
geometrical motifs decorated with flower
heads alternating with five flowers, each in a
white four-lobed reserve. The neck is decorated
with floral scrolls with six chrysanthemums,
placed between two bands of
ruyi
heads.
Round the rim is an iron red border filled
with scrolls of half-chrysanthemum flower
heads painted in white with gold highlights.
This kind of decoration, with leafy stems
terminating in a central flower, is close to
the treatment of plant motifs found in some
civilian Sino-Portuguese embroideries, such
as coverlets, door and wall hangings, as in
the case of Museu do Caramulo, Portugal
(inv. 270) and that in the Museu de Artes
Decorativas Portuguesas – Fundação Ricardo
do Espírito Santo Silva, Lisbon (inv. 423),
although the stems on this jar are represented
as independent elements while those on the
textiles form a continuous scroll, filling the
entire field of the panel (fig. 83).
It is important to emphasize that the
ornamentation on this jar is very similar to
that of two other very imposing large jars
commissioned by the Portuguese bearing the
coat of arms of the Almeida family, 1 the
mantling of which is rendered in a very
similar way to that of the mantling on the
set of jars attributed to the Sampaio e Melo
family that settled in Bassein, India (cat. 412).
It is curious to note that the coat of arms on
those jars, property of Fundação Oriente,
Lisbon (inv. FO383 and FO384), has been
attributed to D. Miguel de Almeida, 2 another
nobleman whose career was associated with
Portuguese India, where he served as
governor of the Estado da Índia (1690-1691),
dying in Goa in December 1691.
In terms shape and size, this jar is similar to
the four jars painted in polychrome enamels
whose decoration was inspired by the
drawings of Jean Bérain (1640-1711), which
decorate the Hall of the Ambassadors at the
Quirinale Palace, Rome, 3 as well as to the jar
decorated in underglaze blue belonging to
the Museu de Artes Decorativas Portuguesas
– Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva,
Lisbon. 4 These jars, normally made in pairs,
were acquired by wealthy individuals and
served to affirm their status.
Manufacturing a jar of this kind and size
would have required a great deal of skill, not
just while it was being built, but also in
terms of controlling the kiln conditions to
ensure a perfect firing and produce a
flawless piece.
1 Pinto de Matos
et al.
, 1998, pp. 202-03, no. 36.
2 Castro, 1993, p. 69.
3 Seta, 2002, pp. 54 and 63, print 55.
4 Antunes, 1999, pp. 52-53.
36 .
ARMORIAL CHINESE EXPORT PORCELAIN
Figure 83. Panel (detail). Chinese work made to European
order, 18th-19th century. Velvet embroidered
in silk and thread laminated with gilt paper.
Height 283 cm; width 209 cm
© Museu de Artes Decorativas Portuguesas –
Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva, inv.
no. 423, Lisbon