A pair of two famille rose trembleuse stands or chocolate cup holders for the Spanish and Mexican market, ‘mancerina’.

China, Qianlong period, c. 1770.

The mancerina of molded scallop shell form, on raised feet with refined overglaze hand painted famille rose decorations.

These ornate, unusually large saucers with a cupholder in the centre (which are missing in this case) were special pieces made for serving chocolate. It was invented by a Spanish grandee, in Mexico, in the seventeenth century and was named after the man who had invented it, Pedro de Toledo, 1st Marquis of Mancera, who served as Viceroy of Peru from 1639 to 1648.

Called mancerina, the cup holders were designed to catch spilled liquid and help the drinker avoid burning their fingers on a hot cup. The tray could in turn be used to hold pastries. Mancerinas were first made in silver in colonial Mexico and Spain and later copied in ceramics, with models of these pieces sent to Chinese porcelain workshops.

In conclusion, these mancerina are a testament to colonial history and mutual influence between cultures connected via sea trade routes from West to East.

Dimensions (few mm varying in size):

Height 3.5 cm, width 21.5 cm, depth 21.6 cm.

Identical mancerina with matching cup can be found in the following museum collections:

-Museo Nacional de Historia, Mexico City, illustrated by M. Priyadarshini, Chinese Porcelain in Colonial Mexico, p. 123, fig. 4.9.

-Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, United States, accession no. 70.59.1

-Museum Amparo Puebla de Zaragoza, Mexico 

-Museo Nacional del Virreinato, Tepotzotlán, Mexico

-Asian Civilisations Museum, 2022-00043

For a lecture in Spanish by Museo Amparo about this specific mancerina, click on the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=T2exETvFg00

Also see: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJUmINIE1VQ

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Code: MW8