 |
 |
|
|
Imperial Canton enamel bowl, cover and saucer
Qianlong period, 1736 – 1795
Diameter of bowl: 11.3 cm | 4 7/16 in
Diameter of saucer: 14.7 cm | 5 3/4 in
Click image for full-size version
The exterior of the bowl and cover, and the top of the saucer, are painted in colours of the famille rose palette on a copper ground. European figures, in landscape settings, are depicted within three oval panels on the sides of the deep bowl, and each vignette is framed by a formalized, scrolling floral design that is reserved on a millefleurs on white ground. Three panels on the domed cover are similarly painted – each one depicting a herder tending to his various animals – a cow, a horse, and a goat, respectively. A lingzhi head band decorates the bowl’s flared foot, and pink dots skirt the foot rim. The cover is surmounted by a gilt finial, and its interior is fitted with a double gilded ring, that allows a perfect fit with the bowl. The centre of the saucer depicts another pastoral scene of European figures picking flowers – bordered by the same scrolling floral design and millefleurs ground; a lingzhi head design decorates the rim, and this is bound by a gilt band. The exterior of the saucer has a plain white ground.
The vignettes are thought to be allegorical – closely resembling subject matter that was initially painted by Chinese artists on export porcelain: Vertumnus and Pomona; the Goddess Cybele Holland seated in the Chair of Liberty; and the three figures representing Plenty. It is likely that the exceptionally fine painting – both on porcelain and on metal – was executed by Chinese artists trained by Jesuit missionaries in the Palace Workshops.
Similar examples: ‘China for the West’ Chinese Porcelain & other Decorative Arts for Export illustrated from the Mottahedeh Collection, by David Howard and John Ayers, Sotheby Parke Bernet, London and New York, 1978 – volume II, plate 662 illustrates a Qianlong painted enamel saucer depicting an allegorical scene.
Sotheby’s Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art auction, 15th December 1970, lot no. 25 – illustrates a similarly painted bowl, cover, and stand.
The Arts of China after 1620, by William Watson and Chiumei Ho, Yale University Press, 2007 – no. 153 illustrates a mid-eighteenth century vase decorated with European figures picking flowers in a pastoral setting, and with a lingzhi head and pink dots collared neck.
Enamel Ware in the Ming Chi’ing Dynasties, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999 – no. 38 illustrates a cloisonné covered jar decorated with panels depicting Europeans in landscape settings.
|
