A Turk taking Coffee: C.7-1950

Titles

A Turk taking Coffee

Maker(s)

Factory: Nymphenburg Porcelain Factory
Modeller: Bustelli, Franz Anton

Entities

• Figure

Categories

• Hard-paste porcelain

Description

Hard-paste porcelain, press-moulded, and glazed; the unglazed underside has two large circular ventilation holes in the middle, and has been coated with brownish-yellow varnish. The shallow base has an asymmetrically scrolled outline and rises up into a seat and a scroll on the left which forms a table on which is a tea bowl and saucer. The Turk is seated on his right hip with both legs sloping to his left, his left arm bent and held out to his right, and his head turned sharply over his left shoulder towards the viewer. He holds the coffee cup in his right hand and leans on his right forearm on the scroll table. He has a very slender pigtail, and a moustache, and wears a skull cap, a high-necked coat with buttons down the front and scalloped edges to the sleeves and lower edge, voluminous trousers gathered at the ankle, and pointed slippers. The top of the base is applied with small flowers and leaves, at the back, between his feet, and to his right.

Notes

History note: H.E. Backer, London; purchased with the Dr F.R. Cowper Reed Fund

Legal notes

Purchased with the Dr F.R. Cowper Reed Bequest Fund

Place(s) associated

• Nymphenburg ⪼ Bavaria ⪼ Germany

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bought (1950) by Backer, H.E.

Dating

18th Century, third quarter
Max III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria
Circa 1756 CE - 1760 CE

Note

Accessioned as a Chinaman, but the model was referred to in the factory's records in 1756 as a Turk, and in an inventory of models in 1760 as a Turk drinking coffee (Türkh, so Caffèe trünkhet'.

School or Style

Rococo