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SAM'S collection

Tankard

Dateca. 1735
Label TextThe 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.
Object number58.100
ProvenanceFormerly 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
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
Credit LineGift of Martha and Henry Isaacson
Dimensions6 in. (15.3 cm), height without lid 3 3/4 in. (9.53 cm), diameter
MediumHard paste porcelain
Meissen manufactory, German
1728-30
Object number: 55.94
Tankard with thumb-ball lid
Meissen manufactory, German
1726-28
Object number: 69.204
Tea bowl and saucer
Meissen manufactory, German
ca. 1720s
Object number: 76.258
Knife handle
Meissen manufactory, German
ca. 1735-40
Object number: 87.142.7
Meissen manufactory, German
ca. 1730 - 35
Object number: 91.102.10
Waste bowl
Meissen manufactory, German
ca. 1735
Object number: 91.102.11
Tobacco box
Meissen manufactory, German
ca. 1750
Object number: 83.98
Bowl
Meissen manufactory, German
1735-40
Object number: 59.87.1
Bowl
Meissen manufactory, German
1735-40
Object number: 59.87.2
Cup and saucer
Meissen manufactory, German
ca. 1765
Object number: 79.33
Coffeepot
Meissen manufactory, German
ca. 1735-40
Object number: 64.69
Meissen manufactory, German
1750-1760
Object number: SC79.127.1