COHEN
& COHEN
CURRENT EXHIBITION: DOUBLE DUTCH
| 1. This is a rare example of this type, the painting is of a high quality
mixing underglaze blue and famille verte enamels very skillfully in
the wucai style. The interior was left unglazed and has, most unusually,
been further enamelled directly onto the biscuit. The shape is derived
from a Ming type produced during the reign of Xuande (1426-35). |
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2. A fine and attractive set
of plates that exemplify the high quality and sophistication of Kangxi
blue and white porcelain. Dishes of this shape were produced in brass
and silver in the Netherlands and also copied in Delft tinglazed pottery
and were often used in churches as alms and offertory dishes. |
| 3. A pair of blue and white jars and covers of oviform- baluster shape, each painted with panels decorated with river landscapes and flowers, all on a floral ground, the neck with a lappet border. |
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4. These striking tureens are glazed with a deep turquoise alkali glaze
probably derived from the alkali glazes first developed for fahua
style ceramics, which in turn are imitating falan or cloisonné
enamels. The glaze is a highpotassia eutectic coloured with copper
and tin to produce a rich satisfying pigment. A few parrots and other
figures are also known with this glaze. |
| 5. A FAMILLE ROSE GARNITURE Yongzheng, circa 1730 A large famille rose garniture comprising three baluster jars and covers and two beaker vases, each painted with four different figure scenes below a pink-ground lappet border enriched with flowers, the neck with a flower scroll and panels with landscapes. This is a very striking set that belongs to a group of porcelains produced during a short period in the reign of the Emperor Yongzheng. Items such as vases of this high quality were characterised by the rich use of the yellow enamel, inventive decoration and narrative or landscape scenes that were popular during this time. The enamels used here are particularly rich and illustrate an experimental mixing of the three newly introduced 'famille rose' enamels (pink, opaque yellow and opaque white). The scenes are from the Romance of the Western Chamber, probably the most popular literary source for subjects on Chinese porcelain. The Romance (Hsi hsiang chi) was written by Wang Shih-Fu (1250-1337) and describes a relatively lowly scholar, Zhang, from Luo Yang who meets the beautiful Cui Yingying, daughter of a former Prime Minister, in a temple and he is immediately smitten. However the temple is then besieged by a violent bandit call Sun Feihu who marries Cui by force. Cui's mother offers her daughter's hand in marriage to whoever can rescue her. With the help of friends Zhang eventually defeats Sun and claims his prize. But his potential mother-in-law reneges on her promise and demands that Zhang now pass the Official Examination for the Civil Service before he will be allowed to marry her. The play ends with their tearful parting, 'hearts entwined' as Zhang sets off westwards for his studies and Cui is carried eastwards in a cart - though the pain of parting is tempered with the knowledge that eventually they will be reunited. Each item has four panels showing Cui with her parents, Sun Feihu attacking Cui, Zhang fighting Sun and the final parting scene. This last scene is one of the most popular on Chinese porcelain. The forms of this set are Chinese and whole arrays of vases and bronzes
were used to decorate Chinese Buddhist temples. However such five
piece sets, known as De Kastels by the Dutch, were a European invention
and fashionable in Holland and England. Late in the seventeenth century
the interior designs of Daniel Marot inspired the display of such
sets and fireplaces, door pediments and furniture were constructed
with integral brackets and shelves to incorporate porcelain, which
was all the rage in big houses. |
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6. A FAMILLE ROSE FLORAL DISH Yongzheng, circa 1730 A fine charger boldly decorated in famille rose enamels with a central floral spray with a large pink peony and prunus blossom, the rim having four sprays of bright flowers. The underside has an underglaze blue four-character apocryphal Chenghua mark within a double circle. This dish is an early example of famille rose and exhibits the bravura
experimentation typical of such Yongzheng porcelains. The overall
design would appear to cater more for a domestic Chinese taste but
such items were also popular in Europe. Note the black outlines in
the enameling, the layering of colours and use of the rich yellow
enamel, |
| 7. A FAMILLE ROSE PUNCH BOWL Yongzheng, circa 1730 A fine punch bowl painted in famille rose enamels with |
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8. A FAMILLE ROSE PUNCH BOWL Yongzheng, circa 1730 A famille rose punch bowl decorated with three cockerels, a hen and five chicks on a grassy bank surrounded by blossoming peonies, the interior with chrysanthemums and other flowers, the rim with a scrolling lotus band with four cartouches underneath a cell pattern band. In Chinese symbolism the cockerel is the emblem of literary success and the peony represents wealth and nobility. The whole family of chickens here therefore indicates an impressive fecundity of upper-class education. This beautiful bowl shows the highest quality painting and enamelling of the Yongzheng period that is usually found on plates rather than larger pieces such as this one. |
| 9. A FAMILLE ROSE PITCHER AND COVER Qianlong, circa 1740 A large famille rose jug and cover of pear shape decorated in bright
enamels with blossoming peony sprays below a spearhead border. |
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10. A RUBY BACK SAUCER DISH Yongzheng, circa 1730 A famille rose egg-shell saucer dish with ruby back, finely
The origins of the famille rose palette are still much discussed.
There are three new enamels that characterise famille rose: an opaque
white enamel and an opaque yellow enamel which seem to have been derived
from cloisonné enamels, the white being lead-arsenate and the
yellow containing lead-stannate. The translucent pink enamel (using |
| 11. PAIR OF LADIES WITH BASKETS Qianlong, circa 1760 Rare pair of famille rose figures of ladies, each dressed in colourful robes and with one arm raised and balancing a basket on her head. This model appears to be unrecorded and its source is also unknown - though it could possibly be of South American influence. The enamelling is loosely applied and semi-translucent. The baskets have sockets for use as candlesticks. |
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12. A PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE BOYS Qianlong, circa 1740 A pair of porcelain figures modelled as laughing boys carrying sconces decorated with lotus, enamelled in famille rose, each having an elaborate official badge. Pairs of laughing boys carrying pots of lotus are known as hehe
erxian or the Twin Immortals of Harmony. They are the patron deities
of Chinese merchants, particularly of Chinese potters, and in paintings
they often accompany Tsai Shen, the God of Wealth. Boys were always
strongly favoured in Chinese culture and these have special protective Pairs of these figures are recorded mainly in famille verte enamels and occasionally in blue and white but the famille rose examples are rare and these are extremely fine. An almost identical pair is in the Schlossmuseum, Gotha, though one is famille verte and the other famille rose. Another similar boy in famille rose is in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, accompanied by a figure of a lady in comparable decoration and with an identical plinth. |
| 13. A PAIR OF STANDING FIGURES Qianlong, circa 1750 A pair of famille rose models of a couple each standing on a rectangular base, the lady wearing a white-ground tunic over a pleated skirt and the man a blue coat above another coat and heavy boots, each holding a fan. It is unusual to find a pair of figures like these with one male
and one female, most pairs being either two maidens or two male figures
such as warriors or boys. The quality of these is very high, both
in the modelling which is lively and subtle - each has movement and
weight - and in the |
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14. A PAIR OF STANDING DUTCH DANCERS Qianlong, circa 1760 A fine and rare famille rose model of a dancing European couple standing side by side as at the start of a minuet, both standing on a pierced rectangular base decorated with a wood-grain pattern. This pair of figures and the next pair in this catalogue constitute
one of the oddest, rarest and most famous types in Chinese Export
Porcelain. They do not fit with most other such figures made for export
and their market is unclear. Though it would seem that these are made
for Almost certainly they were made as matching pairs: the first shows
the couple preparing to dance with the man's feet parted and his arms
guiding her shoulder; the second group shows them whirling in the
middle of the dance. These two groups illustrated here do not quite
match in the enamelling of their clothing and of the bases. The standing group is similar to a different group showing a Dutch couple side by side but lacking a geometric base. This earlier pair has different faces with the man's feet unsplayed and which must have been made from different moulds. They are probably inspired by the so-called 'Governor Duff' images found painted on some early porcelains and also modelled in dehua blanc-de-chine. They were originally believed to represent Diederick Durven who arrived in Batavia in 1705, eventually becoming VOC Governor there from 1728-1731, though it is now believed that the figures are just generic Europeans. This couple has also been suggested to be representing the Sailor's Farewell, a popular scene on famille rose items in the 1750s. Such figures were made from several different moulds, one for each part of the group, and each figure was then skilfully assembled and finished by the Chinese artisan. The heads from these two groups are obviously taken from the same moulds demonstrating the economic efficiency of the Chinese potters. |
| 15. A PAIR OF WHIRLING DANCERS Qianlong, circa 1760 A fine and very rare famille rose group of a dancing European couple
standing on a pierced plinth, both with their left foot lifted off
the ground in mid-dance, the plinth's sides with orange flowers reserved
on a light blue The couple in mid-dance is very likely to have been influenced by
an earlier model of a dancing couple that was first made for the Meissen
factory and then copied by the Chinese as well as by Bow, Chelsea
and Derby. First modeled by Johann Friedrich Eberlein in 1735 for
Meissen it was reworked by Johan Joachim Kändler and listed in
his Taxa of 1743 as "Harlequin and a maiden doing a Polish dance,
possibly a Mazurka". There are very few examples of that group
known but when the wreck of the VOC ship Geldermalsen was salvaged
in 1985 five damaged examples were recovered which had lost their
enamels due to the corrosion of salt water and enabled dating to 1752.
This The most interesting aspect of these groups is the combination of
European and Chinese influences: the costumes are typical eighteenth
century European fashion, but decorated in a Chinese manner with peonies,
chrysanthemum, clouds and scrolls. The plinth provides Perhaps they were "curiousities for those interested in the
physiognomy, costumes and social habits of Westerners" as suggested
by Sargent (1991). There exist books with illustrations of European
figures that were made for the Chinese Court and the Emperor Qianlong
encouraged |
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16. A PAIR OF SEATED DEER Qianlong, circa 1780 A pair of porcelain deer seated on their hindquarters and enamelled in brown, orange and black, the coat finely painted and covered in white spots. The antlers modern replacements to fit original moulded sockets in the head. This extraordinary pair of animals appears to be unique. |
| 17. A CANTON ENAMEL VASE Qianlong, circa 1750 A Canton enamel minyao vase with six-character mark of Qianlong in seal script, finely decorated with European hunting scenes enclosed on a ground of foliage, flowers and tree-shrews. This vase belongs to a small group of enamel wares made in Canton in the style of Beijing enamels on copper. They were part of a complex evolution of enamelling techniques and aesthetics which developed throughout the reigns of the three Qing Emperors, Kangxi (1662-1722), Yongzheng (1722-35) and Qianlong (1735-1796). In 1925 a discovery was made in the Forbidden Palace of a collection of very fine hua falang or 'painted enamels' which came from the period 1720-1780. Each was packed in individual cedarwood boxes and stored in the Duanning Palace, next to the east wing of the Qianqing Palace. These items are now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. The objects tell the story of the evolution of Chinese enamelling, beginning with the activities in the reign of Kangxi. He was fascinated by the different techniques of enamelling on metal, glass, Yixing wares and porcelain and encouraged experimentation and the importing of ideas and expertise from the West. He extended the Beijing Workshops in 1693 and built a glass factory in 1696 under the direction of Kilian Stumpf (1655-1720) who taught the Chinese how to prepare different enamel colours. By 1706 Kangxi was distributing enamelled glasswares as presents and enamelled copper boxes with Kangxi marks are known from this period. By the end of his reign the French Jesuit Missionary Jean Baptiste Gravereau was supervising the enamelling and this coincides with the development of the pink enamel that gave its name to famille rose.
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18. AN ARMORIAL MEAT DISH Qianlong, circa 1760 Large famille rose meat dish painted with the arms of Waller within borders of spearhead and floral sprays. This elegant dish bears the arms of Waller, from one of four services recorded by Howard with these arms. This service dates from about 1760 and who ordered it is not clear.
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| 19. A PAIR OF ARMORIAL VASES Qianlong, circa 1770 Rare pair of Chinese export pear shaped vases enamelled with a coat of arms, the panels reserved on a turquoise chicken skin ground. This striking pair of vases has the arms of Wilson, sable a wolf rampant/salient or, in chief three mullets argent. Crest: demi-wolf rampant. Motto: SINCERITY. Howard describes at least seventeen different Wilson arms on Chinese Porcelain, with three significantly different coats: some have a chevron and three mullets and five have versions of these arms with variations of crest and motto. However these precise items are not listed in either volume and who might have ordered them is not known. The Wilsons are known from Eastbourne to Inverness and many were involved with the East India Company and the China Trade. Captain Walter Wilson was in Canton 1750 with the ship Grantham. Captain William Wilson was in Canton three times: 1753 and 1756 on the Suffolk and in 1759 on the Pitt and he is known to have ordered at least two armorial services in 1750 and 1760 though neither have decoration like these vases. Vases with arms are less uncommon as the shapes were not usually
part of a large dinner service so these may have been part of a small
private order to accompany a few other items. One tea service, circa
1770 is listed by Howard that has exactly these arms, crest and motto
but only simple floral decoration. This turquoise chicken skin ground
is unusual and very few armorial items are known with it, one being
a garniture of five similar vases with arms of Rigby of Lancashire
and Essex. There is also a mug with similar colours bearing the arms
of Renny and Howard mentions a similar garniture with Renny arms but
does not illustrate it. |
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20. AN ARMORIAL DINNER PLATE Qianlong, circa 1770-1775 A porcelain dinner plate with a central armorial painted in famille rose enamels and with gilt rococo decoration to the rim and cavetto. The central image is the Arms of Russia which has a double headed eagle on whose breast is the arms of Moscow, a red shield with the St George slaying the dragon. Around this is a collar for the Order of St Andrew the First-Called, the highest order of chivalry in Russia. These arms have a complex history and have evolved
constantly. The horseman depicts the 'Defender of the Motherland' and
was the arms of the Duchy of Muscovy which formed the centre of the
Russian Empire.The image is known on coins from the 13th Century and
on a seal of Ivan III (1497) the dragon was added, representing the
pagan Tartars who were the principle enemy of Russia at that time. Originally
the figure represented each Tsar but was officially declared to be St
George in 1730. The man should have a blue cloak with the dragon painted
in black. In most early versions the horse is heading to the 'heraldic'
right showing its left flank, though in this plate it is reversed possibly
because a printed version (which can reverse an image) was sent to the
supercargo involved in the order. Ivan III took the Byzantine double
headed eagle and added the arms of Moscow to it probably because his
wife, Sophia, was the niece of Constantine the last Byzantine Emperor.
The Romanovs added the three crowns at the |
| 21. A PSEUDO-ARMORIAL PLATE Qianlong, circa 1750 A finely painted dinner plate with a central pseudo-armorial design, the shield having a chinaman trampling tea into a crate and the crest above a knight's helm being a European figure leaning on a well-packed barrel, the motto: LABOR IPSE VOLUPTAS (work equals pleasure), the whole surrounded by elaborate mantling. The rim has a gilt and grisaille border with classical symbols of love and philosophy. This is designed to imitate the style of armorial porcelain. Such designs usually indicated that the owner did not bear arms himself, probably having risen as a successful merchant from a humble background. The design suggests that it was probably made for a tea merchant but the high quality of the painting and the complexity of the symbolism also suggest that it might have been made and distributed amongst a small, informal club of such merchants. Other tea trade designs are known on Chinese porcelain but are very rare. The rim design is fascinating and is only known on one other European subject plate. At the north of the plate is cupid's quiver of arrows and his bow with two cooing doves and at the south is a dog, a shepherd's crook and a set of pan pipes. These two groups would have been instantly recognizable to an eighteenth century viewer as erotic symbols, redolent of the code of pastoral amorousness that was very popular at this time in music and poetry as well as the visual arts, derived originally from the Rennaissance works of Spenser, Tasso, Sir Philip Sydney and Shakespeare. In the eighteenth century a more evolved set of these symbols is known in the Valentine pattern which appears on many examples of Chinese export porcelain, notably on the armorial service of 1743 for Lord Anson. |
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22. A FAMILLE ROSE TEAPOT STAND Qianlong, circa 1775 A famille rose lobed hexafoil teapot stand with a political pseudo-armorial featuring two portraits and several figures, the rim with flowers and a cell border in iron red and grey. This dish comes from a single tea service which is known scattered though various important collections. It features The Arms of Liberty and must have been ordered by a supporter of John Wilkes or possibly even by Wilkes himself. There are also a number of bowls with this design though they appear to be of two types, either having the inscription 'The Arms of Liberty' as for this item, or 'Wilkes and Liberty' which is more common on the bowls. The left hand portrait is of Wilkes and his two supporters, Serjeant Glynn (1722-1779) his legal advisor and Richard Grenville, 2nd Earl Temple (1711-1779), the motto is 'Always Ready in a Good Cause'. The right hand portrait is of William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (1705- 1793), who condemned Wilkes for 'seditious libel' which resulted in his expulsion from the House of Commons in 1769, and his supporters are John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-1792) and the Devil, the crest being a serpent rampant and their motto 'Justice Sans Pitie'. |
| 23. AN ARMORIAL PLATE Qianlong, circa 1745 An armorial dinner plate decorated in famille rose enamels with a central topographical scene within a quatrefoil cartouche and two maritime scenes on the rim, the elaborate armorial shield on the rim below the central scene with the crest and motto on the rim above. Arms of Holburne of Menstrie, Baronets of Nova Scotia: Quarterly first and fourth gules a fess humettée between three crescents or second and third argent (here or) and orlé gules; crest: a demi lion rampant holding a mullet argent; Motto: DECUS SUMMUM VIRTUS (virtue the chief ornament). This service is one of a dozen which have such scenes of Fort St
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25. AN OVAL ARMORIAL DISH Qianlong, circa 1745 En suite with the previous item. 26. AN ARMORIAL DISH Qianlong, circa 1745 En suite with the previous item. |
24. A PAIR OF ARMORIAL PLATES Qianlong, circa 1745
Provenance: Ex-collection Mrs Nelson A Rockefeller. Arms: D'argent, à une aigle de profil de sable, volante au-dessus de trois plates terrassées de sinople et fixant un soleil d'or. (JB Reitstap) These delightful plates come from a very rare French armorial service.
They bear the arms of the Galart family from Bayonne, a port in South
West France. The bird is an eagle, not a parrot which it appears to
resemble more closely. The family may have originated in the sixteenth It must have been a descendant of Léonce who ordered this
service and, though it has not been possible to identify the individual,
the family clearly played a significant rôle in the municipal
life of Bayonne. A Dominique de Galart is recorded as Mayor of Bayonne
in 1701 (premier echevin et notaire royal) and a Michel Galart was
born in Bayonne 1732. Another significant reference is to a Monsieur
Galart des Graux who is recommended by several people to Benjamin
Franklin to be appointed as Consul at Bayonne in 1781. (From the date
this individual would likely be from the next generation after the
ordering of this porcelain service.) He is described as speaking English
and Dutch fluently and would be a capable and reliable friend of America
in what is a strategic port on the Atlantic Coast. In February 1783
the Mayor, Magistrates and Council of Bayonne write to Franklin:
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27. A PSEUDO-ARMORIAL PLATE Qianlong, circa 1775 A famille rose European subject dinner plate, the centre painted with two cartouches depicting a wood cutter and a soldier, the cavetto with a chain border and the rim with a bamboo and flower garland. This delightful plate most likely represents a witty play on words.
With the rise in the merchant classes there were those who were wealthy
enough to afford personalised dinner services but did not themselves
officially have a coat of arms. So they invented something in armorial
style and used that instead. This example has two figures, a woodcutter
and a fencer en garde. Perhaps his surname was something like 'chopgard'
but in a Scandinavian language. The objects surrounding the figures
must also mean something, a kite, a book and a shallow basket full of
something at the bottom. However, the significance of all The figures are also reminiscent of those on a series of Dutch playing cards of the late 17th Century which are known on earlier Chinese porcelain decorated in Holland. |
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28. A PAIR OF CANDLE HOLDERS Qianlong, circa 1780 A rare pair of famille rose dog candle holders, each moulded with a pair of hounds standing on their hind legs looking up the central candle holder within a rectangular base, brightly enamelled with delicate floral bouquets, the dogs with iron-red spots. The bases for these candlesticks are derived from European metal prototypes but the addition of the dogs seems to be a Chinese innovation. Many models of dogs are known in Chinese Export Porcelain, some derived from Chinese animals and others from European breeds. These appear more like the Chinese short haired hunting dogs though they are too generic to be sure. The arrangement of the animals echoes the animal supporters from some armorial decoration and it is possible that the Chinese simply imitated these in a different context. |
| 29. A PAIR OF VASES AND COVERS Qianlong, circa 1780 A large pair of famille rose vases and covers of rectangular baluster form with pairs of iron red and gilt serpent handles and decorated with raised panels of flowers, scrolls and butterflies, all reserved on a white chicken skin ground lightly moulded with flowers. A fine pair of attractive vases which follow a Chinese form, the handles resembling dragons and the knops as Dogs of Fo. The chicken skin ground is achieved by painstakingly adding small dots of glaze to the surface. The decoration in bright famille rose enamels is of a European type, similar to that of Lowestoft porcelain with elements also taken from Meissen.
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30. AN IMARI PUNCH BOWL Qianlong, circa 1740 A rare European subject punch bowl, the interior decorated in famille rose enamels with three European gentleman and two dogs, the exterior painted in the Imari palette with birds perched on blossoming peony branches. This very unusual bowl is unrecorded and the source for the central
scene is unknown. The decoration is a mixture of the Chinese Imari
palette (underglaze blue with overglaze rouge de fer and gold) on
the outside of the bowl and famille rose enamels on the inside. The
interior |
| 31. A BLUE & WHITE CHARGER Qianlong, circa 1740 A large blue and white Chinese export charger with a central scene showing three elaborately robed figures seated beneath a flowering tree, the figures to the right and centre each holding a fish, and a fourth bald-headed and simply clothed figure standing behind them. In front of the seated men is a low table of European design on which rests a large Kraak porcelain dish, in the background a peacock is perched on a trellis fence watching a bird in the tree. The rim is painted with six bordered cartouches containing three exotic fish divided by waterfowl and flower head lappets. The central scene on this plate is known as The Doctor's Visit to the Emperor and is after a design by the Dutch artist Cornelis Pronk. It was the second drawing (of four) the Dutch East India Company (VOC) commissioned from Cornelis Pronk in 1735, and, like the others, it portrays a very Western view of life in China. For example the table is of a European design and the dish on it is of the 'kraak' style, which is a type that was exported to the West in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and would never have been used by the Emperor. The design may have been inspired by that on a Ming jar which depicts three Daoist 'star-gods' in a cave playing chess. |
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32. A BLUE & WHITE TUREEN AND COVER Qianlong, circa 1760 A blue and white tureen and cover painted with an iris and an orchid surrounded by butterflies and caterpillars, the rim with a European style scrolling band, all after designs by Maria Sibylla Merian. This elegant tureen copies a European silver shape and has a very rare decoration that copies a design found in famille rose on earlier porcelain dishes from 1740. The main image is taken from a design that is traditionally attributed to Maria Sybille Merian (1646-1717), a remarkable Natural Historian and botanical artist who travelled to the Dutch West Indies in 1698. She later published a book of her drawings, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (Pub: Holland 1705 and France 1771). For sometime it was not known which source had been used, as the complete image is not found in her books. However a careful analysis of the elements has shown that at least four parts are derived from different plates in Merian's third Raupenbuch (caterpillar book) of 1717. The iris is taken from Plate 20 and the anemone from plate 34. The butterfly is similar to one in plate 28 and the larger caterpillar (Cerura vinula) on the anemone is taken from plate 39 originally depicted on a willow branch. The other elements have yet to be traced. |
| 33. A RARE PUNCH BOWL Qianlong, circa 1770 A rare punch bowl finely decorated in underglaze blue with a continuous scene of the porcelain production at Jingdezhen, the interior with floral decoration in Imari and famille rose palettes. This rare bowl illustrates its means of production. Porcelain had been made in China for many centuries and had been widely admired and prized around the world. There is much discussion about the exact origins of the invention of porcelain and it depends to some extent on the definition of porcelain. The origins of the word are complex. It seems to have been used first by Marco Polo to describe Chinese pottery in the late thirteenth century when he also used it to describe cowrie shells, which are held to resemble little pigs (porcellus is Latin for little pig). The similarity of the white porcelain to the cowrie shells in appearance and texture when broken, accounts for the conflation of terminology. |
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34. A PAIR OF TOPOGRAPHICAL TANKARDS Qianlong, circa 1790 A pair of iron-red and blue and white topographical tankards depicting Furudals Bruk, Sweden, after an original drawing by G. Hertzenhielm which accompanies this item. These extraordinary mugs are still associated with the original drawing which would have been sent out to Canton for the Chinese artists to copy onto porcelain. That this drawing survives is very rare indeed - the only other recorded example of such original artwork is the design for the Okeover armorial service, illustrated in Howard (1974). Export porcelains with Swedish topographical scenes are rare and these examples are previously unrecorded. The image here is Furudals Bruk an iron foundry in Dalarna county, in the middle of Sweden, well served by rivers for transport and local iron ore and coal reserves. The irons works were established in 1709 by Birger Elfving. He was the son of a Vicar and protegé of Christopher Polhem, the most important scientist and inventor of his day, who designed gunfactories and arsenals. Elfving was an enthusiastic innovator who invented many new techniques for simplifying the work and speeding up production. He began his own foundry at Hedemora in 1703 before moving to Furdals Bruk in 1709. He had a large order of canons for the Swedish Army which were expensive to make and eventually they were not accepted by the governement as the lighter ones shot over their target and the heavier ones were subject to cracking. He also suffered from pilfering of guns and ammunition by his staff and was regularly in financial difficulties.
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| 35. A MASSIVE CHRISTENING BOWL Qianlong, circa 1795 A large sepia and grisaille decorated punch bowl, enamelled with a pair of panels depicting 'Summer' after Bartolozzi alternating with two ship scenes, the rim with gilt and iron-red grapevine. This bowl impresses with its unexpectedly large size. Such bowls are referred to as Christening bowls as a baby could be immersed in them, though there is little evidence that this was their intended use. This design is taken from one of the Four Seasons (Summer) by Giovanni Battista Cipriani (1727-1785), engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815) and published by Pergolesi in London, 1782. Cipriani settled in England in 1755 arriving from Rome with his good friend Joseph Wilton (who founded the Royal Academy) and may have been inspired by Francois Boucher (1703-1770) who did a similar series of the seasons, which were engraved by Claude Duflos (1700-1786) some of whose engravings of 'fêtes champêtres' are also known on Chinese Export Porcelain. Cipriani died at Hammersmith in London and was buried at Chelsea, where Bartolozzi erected a monument to his memory. |
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36. A SET OF SIX WALLPAPER PANELS Jiaqing, circa 1800 A set of six wallpaper panels painted with various kinds of birds and trees on a blue, paper backed, silk panel background. A fine example of excellent quality draughtmanship and bold colouring.
The birds are painted with life and dynamism against a bright blue
background. The birds are not painted with great ornithological accuracy, Red Crowned Crane (Grus japonensis)
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