Sold Ceramics - Sold Chine de commande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Various Subjects - Outdoor Scenes - Page 1

Object 2012559

Dish

China

c.1700

Height 25 mm (0.98 inch), diameter of rim 163 mm (6.42 inch), diameter of footring 90 mm (3.54 inch), weight 133 grams (4.69 ounce (oz.))

Small dish on footring, flat rim. Decorated in underglaze blue with a European style landscape depicting a man and a woman standing on either side of a tree: he wears a jerkin and carries gourd flask at his waist; they are accompanied by sheep and carry staves. The sides undecorated. On the rim a continuous pattern of flower scrolls. On the reverse two long flower sprays alternating with mountains. Marked on the base with the six-character mark: Da Ming Cheng hua nian zhi, (Prepared during the Chenghua reign of the Great Ming Dynasty (1465-1487)), in a double circle, underglaze blue.

Eighteenth-century Chinese porcelain with European decoration. Religious subjects. The earliest scene from the Old Testament is that of Adam and Eve on a plate from the Kangxi period in underglaze blue. Adam is to the left of the tree and Eve to the right. He is accompanied by a he-goat(?) and by several other animals. The im-decoration of tendrils and flowers reminds one of those found in the second half of the seventeenth century. (Lunsingh Scheurleer 1974, p.143)

The composition, which has not been traced, is reminiscent of Delftware designs of the 'Adam and Eve' type. (Howard & Ayers 1978, vol. 1, p.70, cat 27)

The shepherd and shepherdess may represent Adam and Eve after their expulsion from Paradise. A Western (biblical?) illustration was probably used as the model, but this has not been traced. This is an early example of a narrative chine de commande representation in underglaze blue. Other examples are known but these differ from each other in the way the representation is painted. Jörg 2002/2, p.142, cat. 97)

For identically decorated dishes, please see:

Condition: A firing flaw to the base and three restored chips, one with a connected hairline, all to the rim.

References:

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1966, cat. 225

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1974, cat. 234

Howard & Ayers 1978, vol. 1, cat. 234

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1982/2, cat. 179

Hervouët 1986, cat. 7.39 & 7.40

Hartog 1990, cat. 139

Jörg 2002/2, cat. 97

MacGuire 2023, cat. 450

Price: Sold.