Tazza, 1688
John Ruslen
Silver with flat-chased decoration
Lent by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 85.314
Click for detail
A number of London artisans in the 1680s specialized in decorating silver forms with exotic Chinoiserie imagery. This monteith, a form used to chill or rinse wine glasses, has eight distinctively decorated panels. The accompanying tazza or footed tray features panels with similarly charismatic figures in flamboyant dress, but lacks the complex backgrounds that make the monteith so visually engaging.
Both pieces bear the engraved arms of the Royal African Company, which held a government-sanctioned monopoly on English slave trading in West Africa. Commissioned at the height of the companys success, this monteith and tazza can be seen as powerful symbols of Englands expansion into Asia and Africa at the dawn of its global empire. They serve as a reminder of Englands prominent role in the slave trade.
Monteith, 1688
George Garthorne
Silver with flat-chased decoration
Purchase, Virginia Booth Vogel Acquisition Fund M2003.90