Qianlong period circa 1775-80
European Market
Height: 5¼ inches; 13.5cm
from the Golden Gate Collection

A Chinese export porcelain milk jug of ‘helmet’ form painted in famille rose with a panel of European figures in an interior.

This is from a single rare teaservice, a few pieces of which have been recorded. The scene is L’Occupation, plate 4 from Monument du Costume Physique et Moral de la fin du Dix-huitième siècle (1774) published by Denis Charles Buldet. The designs were created by Johann Heinrich Eberts (1726-1793) and drawn by Sigmund Freudeberg (1745-1801) a Swiss artist and print maker working mainly in Paris and later in Bern, and this plate was engraved by Charles-Louis Lingée.
Two other designs from this suite are found on Chinese export porcelain, plate 3 (La Toilette, engraved by Nicolas Joseph Voyez) and plate 8 (La Promenade du Soir, engraved by François Robert Ingouf).
Additionally plates 3 & 4 are the source for images on a large painted enamel on copper vase for the Chinese market, though both scenes have been transferred to an exterior setting.

References: Hervouët & Bruneau 1986, p167, No 7.75, a teapot