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Vase Decorations

Patterns of Cultural Influence

Look at Web sites and involve the class in discussion about the influence and similarities in Talavera and other decorative arts influences.

Mexican

  • Native (not a lot of painting-type decoration, but lots of sculptural influences.)
  • Look for early Mexican evidence of patterning- look through different artifacts, and discuss the surface treatment.
  • Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries
    http://www.humanities-interactive.org/splendors/

Chinese

  • Look at the web sites following and look for different approaches to decorating the surfaces:
    • Representational scenes
      Compare to platter and pear shaped bottle, also to Talavera
    • Patterning
  • Look at the variety of traditional Chinese blue and white on this page http://plaza16.mbn.or.jp/~chuwado/index-e.html
    Which of the items are similar in pattern to the pieces from the Franz Mayer museum?
    Do any of the Talavera items look similar to any of these patterns?
  • Roll your mouse to reveal Chinese blue and white in a charming setting complete with Oriental music
    http://www.hamadi.nl/
  • An easy to understand overview of Chinese Ming blue and white, along with patterning descriptions and close ups of examples. Also introduces the Islamic (Moorish) influence into Chinese art.
    http://www.koh-antique.com/bandw/bandw.html

Spanish/Moorish

Who else was influenced by the beauty of Chinese porcelain?

  • Decree of palette by Puebla Guild (For a time, the potters were required to use certain colors, to maintain consistency of products).
  • Variations emerging - not just like the old culture, but a new style, borrowed
  • Look at the virtual tour in the Bayou Bend website - Look for evidence of Chinese influence in ceramics that are in the Bayou Bend rooms.
    Note: the same as with the blue and white platter in the Franz Mayer collection, not everything seen in the Bayou Bend rooms is really Chinese porcelain. (The vases you see on the tall chest in the Pine room are actually Delftware, from Holland. It was more affordable than real Chinese porcelain.)
  • Look at Delftware Web site
    http://www.delftwares.com/itinroydelco.html

Compare:

  • Which ones look the most like the ones in the Pine Room
  • Delft patterns to Chinese Porcelain
  • Delft patterns to the Talavera platter pattern

Discuss possible reasons for the differences

Chinese porcelain, not Delftware, is seen in the Bayou Bend dining room.