Beschreibung:

AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE AND EXTREMELY IMPORTANT PORCELAIN CUP WITH A FINE GILT SILVER MOUNT the cup China, Jiajing period (1522-1566), the unmarked mount probably English 1580-1585 circa Decorated to the exterior with four large red circular medallions on the white glazed body, the porcelain cup supported by a slender stem rising from a circular domed foot and secured by four vertical pierced straps, the rim underlined by a scalloped edge, the whole mount enriched with finely incised, casted and chased details, the foot with masks alternating to fruits, the mid section of the stem with three lion masks with movable rings in their mouths and three shells, the four vertical stripes on the upper section terminating with Bacchanal masks. 13,3 x 9,3 cm Provenance: by repute, Elisa Baciocchi (1777-1820), Granduchess of Tuscany and sister of Napoleon Bonaparte; acquired by Francesco Lugrammi, high official of the Kingdom of Italy, and thence to his son Giulio Lugrammi (1876-1958), General Commander of the Port of Marseilles and senator of the Kingdom of Italy who participated to the 1919 Peace Conference in Paris, thence to his son (1906-1991) and grandson. This cup is a masterpiece, from many points of view. Its main importance, however, is probably the story it tells. A very long story, lasting for more than four centuries. A story which involves high personages from at least two continents, Asia and Europe. From the Chinese Emperor Jiajing (reign 1522-1566) to probably Elizabeth Queen of England (1533-1603), from Elisa Baciocchi Granduchess of Tuscany and sister of Napoleon, to the Lugrammi family, which proudly owned this piece for two centuries. Together with these very influential names in the world history, it tells us also about a crucial moment in the fascinating story of the encounter between two very distant cultures, China and Europe. From the 14th century porcelain has surely been the most precious material which could arrive to Europe from China. From the epoch of Marco Polo onward, Chinese ware became the most desiderable good for all the European princes. Before the beginning of the direct trade between Asia and the Portoguese from the early 16th century, the number of Chinese porcelains which reached Europe was scarce. Even if they were not able to recognise the real composition of that material, the most influential members of the European élite perfectly understood the extraordinary qualities of Chinese porcelain, its thin and white body, its characteristics of being waterproof and the vividness of its enamelled or moulded decoration with motifs completely different from anything seen until then. Chinese porcelain was simply precious, and it was then worthy enough to be enriched with mount, often realised by the best artists specialised in the working of metals. The rarity of Chinese porcelain and the preciousness of the mounts were qualities then combined to create extremely fine objects proudly exhibited in the most important Cabinets of Curiosities (Wunderkammern), those rooms where the European princes preserved their most valued treasures. Great part of the still existing Chinese porcelain arrived in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries presents in fact a metal mount, or was originally provided with such an embellishment, as for example the famous “Gaignières-Fonthill” bottle vase (Dublin, National Museum), given as a gift in 1381 by Louis I of Hungary to Charles III King of Naples (A. Lane, The Gaignières-Fonthill Vase. A Chinese Porcelain of about 1300, in “The Burlington Magazine”, CIII, 1961, 697, pp. 124,-132, pl. 2-11), or the céladon-glazed cup now in the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Kassel, acquired from Count Philipp von Katzenelnbogen around 1433-34 and certainly mounted before 1453 (Porzellan aus China und Japan. Die Porzellagalerie der Langgrafen von Hessen-Kassel, Kassel 1990, pp. 10-11, 216-218). The use to enhance Chinese porcelain with metal mount continued also in the later centuries, even if the a