Tankard

Although the form of this tankard is based on a European model, the densely covered blue and white decoration derives from Chinese Ming dynasty porcelains.

British potters drew upon a great variety of sources including prints, examples of foreign-made ceramics, textiles and metalwork. Italian and French tin-glazed earthenware was imitated in England, as in the small blue-ground Dish based on French models and the vibrantly colored Charger copying Italian wares. Near Eastern textile and metalwork patterns, as seen in the two Chargers on the back wall, were also design sources. As exotic Asian materials, including porcelain, were imported into Europe beginning in the 16th century, they became popular luxury objects and inspired the European fashion for chinoiserie.  Chinoiserie, a term derived from the French word chinois (Chinese), denotes a type of European art influenced by Asian art. As the taste for imported Asian objects grew in 17th- and 18th-century Europe, Asian motifs and forms were copied and adapted in objects.

As Asian porcelains were exported, European potters began to assimilate Eastern production methods, design motifs and glazes. Here, the blue and white glaze combination, polychrome glazes and unglazed ceramics reflect a range of glaze options inspired by Asian export porcelains. The Tankard attempts to reproduce the look of blue and white porcelain with white tin oxide and cobalt blue glazes.