Saucer with an image of Leda and the Swan c. 1725 - 1749

This delicately rendered saucer, depicting Leda and the Swan, was created anonymously using porcelain, likely somewhere in Asia, at an unknown date. Porcelain is an especially interesting material. It is made from a particular type of clay, kaolin, and fired at extremely high temperatures, resulting in a translucent, almost glass-like material. In the history of global trade, porcelain was immensely desirable, and objects like this saucer were made in Asia specifically for export to Europe. The image on the saucer would have been painted by hand, demonstrating the skill of the artisan. The story of Leda and the Swan, a popular subject in Western art, is here rendered for a consumer market, demonstrating how the demand for luxury goods drove production and exchange across cultures. So while the scene is classical, the object speaks volumes about the dynamics of global commerce.