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Tankard with tapering sides and round handle with a vent at the top. The flat base unglazed. On the sides in a continuous landscape with a pavilion, a willow tree, and clouds, a servant offering a tray on which an arrow vase with three arrows is placed to a dignitary. Above the foot and at the rim foliate scrolls and flower heads.
This western shape derives from German stoneware tankards. As of 1634 the Dutch East India company (VOC) took these stoneware tankards and other western shapes used in Holland to Jingdezhen to serve as models. They were also made for the private trade. The scene depicted here is an invitation to play touhu, whereby players attempt to throw arrows from a prescribed distance in the neck of the vase. At each miss the player is forced to drink. Tankards are to be found in numerous European collections.
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