1985.R.864.A-C, Soup tureen, porcelain, China, 18th century

Since porcelain could be made and decorated cheaper in China than in Europe, models were sent to China to be copied. This shell-handled tureen was probably copied from a Meissen porcelain prototype which, in turn, relies on an earlier European silver form. The enamel harbor scenes with black and iron-red cartouches are similar to those found on European porcelain. The grisaille landscapes and rose bird-and-flowering-branch scenes within gold cartouches on the rim are stock Chinese designs from the decorator's repertoire. The gold spearhead borders were used extensively during the thirty years between 1740-70 and are probably a simplified version of European Baroque lambrequins developed by Canton decorators for China trade porcelain. They were re-adapted by European decorators for use on European porcelain. 

This tureen and stand were based on a Meissen prototype; the borders are traditionally Chinese. 

excerpt from - Label text, Reves Galleries, Porcelain Gallery, 2018 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art~Read more about Chinese Export Porcelain

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