Melk en Bloed

Melk en Bloed (Milk and Blood) is the Dutch term for a type of decoration on old East Asian porcelain with iron-red and gold being the predominant colours. Export porcelains of this colour scheme date mainly from the first decades of the eighteenth century. They were especially esteemed in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen, but they are just as well to be found in several collections of German princes. This exhibition catalogue illustrates a rich and varied selection of red-and-gold decorated porcelains both for splendour and everyday use, on loan mainly from a private collection in Northern Germany. The context in the cultural history of the usage and collection of these porcelains is clarified in the accompanying study dedicated exclusively to this special type of decoration for the first time worldwide. In addition, the text deals with the iconography of the filigree motifs, which are inspired mostly by stories from classical Chinese literature and by the exotic vegetation of southern China. The catalogue offers numerous new discoveries concerning the iconography of Chinese export porcelain, made possible by the cooperation between German, Dutch and Chinese historians who could be won for this project.