•D2553. Blue and White Rococo Oval Tureen and Cover

Delft, circa 1755

Marked Z:DEX 16 in blue for Zacherias Dextra, owner of De Drie Postelyene Astonne (The Three Porcelain Ash Barrels) factory form 1750 until 1759

The slightly lobed body molded on either side with a border of fringed lappets and bosses interrupted by a central leaf-shaped lappet painted with a flowering prunus branch above two flowering peony branches and a small insect below, the ends with a similar peony branch within a scroll-molded cartouche beneath blue-feathered rococo scroll handles, the lower body raised on four scroll-molded feet decorated with crescents and foliate devices, and the rim with a ‘spearhead’ border repeated around the rim of the lotus pad- shaped cover below four chinoiserie vignettes, each depicting a kneeling figure: one with a crayfish on a pole, the second scraping the ground, the third putting a crayfish in a basket, and the fourth with a dead duck, all below an elaborate fluted scrolling stem-form knop patterned with stippled dots and reserved with panels of leaves and dots.

DIMENSIONS
Height: 31.6 cm. (12.4 in.)

PROVENANCE
The Kitty Valkier-Schreurs Collection, Belgium;
Aronson Antiquairs, Amsterdam

LITERATURE
Described and illustrated in Aronson 2014, pp. 128-129, no. 64

NOTE
Dining in the eighteenth century was a highly ritualized affair, with multi-course meals becoming the standard, especially in aristocratic and upper-class circles. Tureens were frequently used during the first courses, in the style of “service à la française” (French service), where multiple dishes were presented simultaneously on the table. The primary
purpose of a tureen was to serve soups, stews, and broths, which were key elements of formal dining at the time. The large, covered dish helped maintain the warmth of the food throughout these long meals, which could last for hours. Beyond its practical use, the tureen, placed at the center of the table, also contributed to the meal’s formality and elegance.

The distinctive shape of this tureen, sometimes referred to as ‘à chapeau Chinois’ (‘the Chinese hat’), is believed to have been inspired by a silver-influenced Höchst faience model from around 1747, possibly created by Georg Ignaz Hess or Johann Gottfried Becker, both of whom had worked as modelers at the Meissen factory. A Höchst example exists with the painter’s letter R of Johann Gottlieb Rothe, who moved from Höchst to Strasbourg in 1748, possibly taking the model with him. This shape is also found in Strasbourg faience after 1748, where it was referred to as ‘en baroque’. The model further spread from Höchst to Kiel in Northern Germany and Marieberg in Sweden, likely through Johann Buchwald, who managed these and other factories in Northern Germany and Sweden.