A CHINESE EXPORT PORCELAIN MYTHOLOGICAL MILK JUG AND COVER AND A COFFEE CUP circa 1745 and 1750

the jug painted en grisaille heightened in gilding with Diana and her hound beneath a border of boar- and stag-hunting panels, strapwork and foliate-scrolls perched upon by a pair of owls and repeated around the cover rim; and the cup painted with Orpheus seated on a mound beside a tree and playing his lyre beneath a gilt shell-and-foliate-scroll border.  The cup with a restored chip.  

(the jug) La Ganke & Co., New York

(the cup) Edward Sheppard, New York

San Francisco, Fall Antiques Show, 1995

Jug good; cover good, with minor wear to gilding on rim edge and knop. Wear to the gilt border of cup, restored chip to rim above tree showing mostly on the interior.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A saucer dish identically decorated to the milk jug is illustrated by Hervouët and Bruneau, p. 298, no. 13.28, who note that the decoration was taken from an engraving entitled 'Novembre' by Claude III Audran (1658-1734). A grisaille tea canister with Mercury and the same border is illustrated in Wirgin, p. 186, no. 200, suggesting that similar tea sets were made with a variety of mythological gods as central decoration.

A teapot identically decorated with Orpheus (or Apollo, who also is depicted with a lyre) is illustrated by Litzenburg and Bailey, p. 192, no. 191.  A saucer from a similarly decorated but differently bordered tea and/or coffee service is illustrated by Hervouët and Bruneau, p. 296, no. 13.20; and a milk jug and teabowl from that same service are illustrated by Veiga, p. 127, pls. 97 and 98.  A tea canister with that border, but decorated en grisaille, is illustrated by Jörg 1989, p. 187, no. 69, who also illustrates on p. 185, no. 68, a more carefully painted teabowl and saucer with this subject within a fruiting vine border.