Ginger jar and domed cover with putti amongst foliage Although the purpose of Chinese porcelain ‘ginger jars’ remains unclear, their bulbous shape became very fashionable in Europe. Imitations were made in silver during the seventeenth century, such as this one made by the London-based German silversmith, Jacob Bodendeich, and in hard- or soft-paste porcelain in the eighteenth century, purely for decoration.

Jacob Bodendeich (1633/4 –1681)

London, 1673

Silver

Purchased with the Cunliffe and Perceval Funds, aided by grants from the National Art Collections Fund and the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund (M.11 & A-2005)