dish BM-Franks.918.+

Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1730-1740 (circa)
Materials:porcelain, gold,
Technique:painted, gilded,
Subjects:king/queen horse/ass
Dimensions:Diameter: 35.80 centimetres

Description:
‘Grisaille’-and-gold painted plate depicting the Dutch leader of a religious group. The central figure is Johann Bockholdt of Leyden (1510-36), also known as Jan van Leiden, whose name is inscribed in Latin, ‘IOHANNES BUCHOLDI A LEYDA’. He is standing between an attendant carrying a Bible like a tray for his crown and a groom who is leading his horse. With his right hand he leans on the hilt of his sword and his left touches the Bible. Behind him on the right is a cage with a naked figure inside, suspended from a church tower. In the background other figures are depicted being tortured. The plate has a rococo scrollwork rim border with floral sprigs.
IMG


Comments:Harrison-Hall and Krahl 1994:Johann Bockholdt, a tailor from Leyden, belonged to a group of protestant reformers known as the Anabaptists, who preached the rebaptism of adults who had been baptised as children. In 1534 a militant group of Anabaptists took over the town of Munster in northwest Germany where they attempted to create an independent theocracy by assuming absolute power and deposing the local city council. Bockholdt was crowned King of the Anabaptists and appeared in royal regalia before his subjects in the marketplace of Munster. He justified his actions such as the legalization of polygamy and the burning of all books except for the Bible, with visions from heaven which confirmed his authority. Bockholdt ruled Munster for over a year, but in June 1535 the town was successfully taken back by the authorities. Seven months later Bockholdt and other prominent Anabaptists were publicly interrogated, tortured and executed. As an example to potential sympathisers, the victims were displayed in town, stretched on racks, and suspended in iron cages from the church tower of St. Lambert’s. The design on this plate derives from a copper-plate etching by the Dutch artist Romeyen de Hooghe (1645-1708), after a painting by van Sichem. A trimmed version of this print is published in “Historie der Kerken en Ketteren van het Jaar Onzes Heeren 1500 tot 1600” (“A History of Churches and Heretics from 1500 to 1600 A.D.”) by Godfried Arnold, Amsterdam, 1701, vol. 2, p.25 (British Library, 208.g.l6).As with BM Franks. 592, only plates are known with this design, which may also be Protestant commemorative pieces, possibly for the bicentenary of Bockholdt’s death in 1736. Other identical plates are in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (Munster, 1982, no. 189); and in the Musee Adrien Dubouche, Limoges, France (Hervouet and Bruneau, 1986, no.11.51). Modern imitations of this design are also known (ibid., no. 17.22).