The Melford Hall Collection of Chinese Porcelain. A Prize from the Capture of the Santísima Trinidad
This is the Annual Shang Shan Tang Lecture
When the captured Spanish Manila galleon Santísima Trinidad arrived in Plymouth harbour on June 6, 1764, carrying a precious cargo of exotic goods from East Asia—gold, precious gems, silks, ivory, and Chinese porcelain—it was the sensation of the season in the British press. The British had seized the vessel on October 30, 1762, near the island of Capul in the Philippines, during the Seven Years War when briefly, between 1762 and 1764, Britain took control of the Philippines from Spain (the archipelago was part of the viceroyalty of New Spain). Fortunately, a significant portion of its valuable cargo, including a substantial quantity of Chinese porcelain specifically crafted for the Spanish market, is still safeguarded at Melford Hall, an exquisite country estate in Suffolk. This estate serves as the residence of the family of the late Sir Richard Hyde Parker, descendants of Captain Hyde Parker, who commanded the HMS Panther which captured the Santísima Trinidad.
The lecture will examine and assess the Chinese porcelain pieces housed at Melford Hall: the magnificent soldier vases adorned with red and gold enamels, Imari-style dishes, and other pieces in the famille rose style that share connections with similar pieces collected in Spain during the mid-18th century by Queen Elisabeth Farnese (1692-1766) and other members of the Spanish aristocracy.
We are grateful to Shang Shan Tang for sponsoring this lecture.
Speaker
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Cinta KraheUniversidad Autónoma de MadridDr. Cinta Krahe is an Associate Professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2020-24) and lecturer in East Asian Arts at the Universidad de Alcalá (2003-2020) and at the Universidad Antonio de Nebrija, Madrid (2011-2020). She graduated in Art History from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and holds an MA in Chinese Art and Archaeology from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Her extensive archive research for her Ph.D. at Leiden University focused on Chinese Porcelain and other Orientalia and Exotica in Spain during the Habsburg dynasty, supervised by Prof. Dr. Christiaan Jörg (completed in September 2014).
Dr. Krahe was responsible for the cataloguing of Chinese porcelain from the San Diego galleon in the Naval Museum (Madrid). Additionally, she was curator of the exhibition Orientando la Mirada: Arte Asiático en las colecciones públicas madrileñas at the Centro Cultural Conde Duque in 2009, which focused on East Asian Decorative Arts in public collections in Madrid.
She is an active member of different research groups at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the Universidad de Granada. Dr. Krahe served as the Principal Research Fellow in the project Mapping Philippine Material Culture: Locating Philippine-made Objects from the 16th- mid 20th c. in Spain (Phase II). A Digital Humanities Project at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, directed by Dr. Cristina Juan (2020-2022).
Dr. Krahe has participated in numerous seminars, lectures, and courses at various universities worldwide. She has authored several books, including Chinese Porcelain in Habsburg Spain (Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica, Madrid 2016), La China imperial (editorial Síntesis, Madrid 2017), and La cerámica en la pintura del Museo Nacional del Prado (CSIC, Madrid, forthcoming publication). Currently, she is working on a new publication on East Asian Art and Chinoiserie in Spain in the 18th century (Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica). Dr. Krahe has contributed numerous articles in both Spanish and English to various books and magazines, focusing on East Asian Art, with a particular emphasis on Chinese ceramics.
