Platter
Unknown Artist
ca. 1745
Medium
Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Overall: 15 1/4 × 18 in. (38.7 × 45.7 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain-Export
Culture
Chinese, for British market
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Helena Woolworth McCann Collection, Gift of Winfield Foundation, 1951
Accession Number
51.86.311
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant platter, crafted around 1745 in China specifically for the British market, the pinnacle of 18-century export porcelain. Made from durable hard-paste porcelain—a material perfected by Chinese potters centuries earlier and coveted in Europe for its fine translucency and strength—this oversized piece (15¼ × 18 inches) served as luxurious tableware for affluent households. Its surface features a prominent coat of arms flanked by rivers, a heraldic motif customized to honor a British family, blending Eastern craftsmanship with Western symbolism. During the height of the Canton trade s...