Beaker
(1745-1749)
Medium
porcelain (soft-paste)
Measurements
7.3 × 6.6 cm diameter
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
Gallery location
17th & 18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This beaker and the adjacent un-enamelled example are ornamented with the so-called ‘tea plant’ motif, spiralling around the beakers in relief. The design source was an engraving in the 1669 publication An Embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperor of China by Johannes Nieuhof, and the impetus to apply it in raised relief was possibly inspired by the applied plum-blossom sprigs of Chinese blanc de Chine wares from Dehua.