Ewer from Burghley House, Lincolnshire
Chinese porcelain 1573– ca. 1585, British mounts ca. 1585
“In the sixteenth century, Chinese porcelain occasionally arrived in England, sometimes by way of the Levant, sometimes by sea around the Cape of Good Hope. As it was very rare and considered a special treasure, the most accomplished English silversmiths were often commissioned to make mounts for it. Pieces such as these were regarded as suitable for royal gifts or for the furnishing of princely houses.“
Source via the Metropolitan Museum of Art, under a Creative Commons Open License
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