Tankard

ca. 1735

Attributed to Adam Friedrich von Loewenfinck

German, 1714-1754

The subject of this tankard is known in China as fu lu shou, meaning happiness, official position, and longevity. It is not likely that the porcelain painters at Meissen were familiar with the significance of this scene. It represents an importation of style, not meaning. This rare tankard is from a service made for an Englishman, the second Earl of Jersey. For those who could afford them, Meissen services became de rigueur in the 1730s and 1740s.

Hard paste porcelain

6 in. (15.3 cm), height without lid

3 3/4 in. (9.53 cm), diameter

Gift of Martha and Henry Isaacson

58.100

Provenance: Formerly in Villiers family for some 220 years; Mr Ralph H. Wark, Hendersonville, N.C., Coll.; sold to Mr and Mrs Henry and Martha Isaacson, August 1958; gift from Mr and Mrs Henry and Martha Isaacson to Seattle Art Museum, Washington, 1958

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySan Francisco, California, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, "Continental Table Porcelain of the 18th century," 1965

Mitsukoshi Museums, Japan, Koimari-Arita Wares and Early European Porcelains, March 6-May 20, 1979

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Early European Porcelain and Silver: Comparative Forms" July 15, 1980-Aug 31, 1980. CF. Letter from Julie Emerson to the Isaacsons, Jan 23, 1980.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Porcelain Stories: From China to Europe, Feb. 17 - May 7, 2000.

Published ReferencesEmerson, Julie, Jennifer Chen, & Mimi Gardner Gates, "Porcelain Stories, From China to Europe", Seattle Art Museum, 2000, pg. 198

Wark, Ralph H. Article on Adam Friedland von Loewenfinck, Swiss Porcelain Collectors Club (Keramik-Freunde der Schweiz) bulletin No. 34, April 1956, pl. V, no. 12, illus.; Koimari-Kakizaemon toji koryuten = Koimari-Arita Wares and Early European Porcelains: 85 Masterpieces from the Martha and Henry Isaacson Collection, the Seattle Art Museum. Mitsukoshi honten. Tokyo: [s.n.] 1979

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