Images(4)

Pot for Semar tea

Place of OriginJiangsu province, China

Dateapprox. 1900-1940

MaterialsStoneware

DimensionsH. 4 7/8 in x W. 8 in x D. 4 3/4 in, H. 12.4 cm x W. 20.3 cm x D. 12.1 cm

Credit LineGift of Bruce and Terese Tse Bartholomew

Object number2010.428.a-.b

DepartmentChinese Art

ClassificationsCeramics

On View

Not on view

MarkingsStamp on the bottom is a four-character seal in raised seal script: Jinmou Zhan Zeng, "Gift of the Jinmou Company."

More Information

The Chinese production of ceramics to order for Southeast Asian clients continues to this day. This teapot, made at the Yixing production center in China, is inscribed both in Chinese (on the lid) and in the Roman alphabet (on the back) with the information that it was made for the Kwik Hoo Tong Company in the city of Yogyakarta (in what is now Indonesia, but was at the time the Dutch East Indies). On the front of the teapot is a representation of the beloved Indonesian shadow puppet character Semar, and an inscription in Dutch saying "Semar (brand) tea."

Subject