Sold Ceramics - Sold Chine de commande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Various Subjects - Indoor Scenes

Object 2010460

Teacup

China

c.1735

Height 38 mm (1.50 inch), diameter of rim 72 mm (2.84 inch), diameter of footring 25 mm (0.98 inch)

Teacup on footring, slightly everted rim. Decorated in encre de Chine and gold with two European figures wearing Oriental clothes in an Oriental interior with a door. One figure is standing wearing an elaborate robe holding a sprig of coral, the other with a dog on a leash beside a large vase decorated with a monster head (t'au-t'ie). The vase is filled with sprays of fungus and peacock feathers. Beside to the vase a wine pot and a pure depiction of an ancient bronze 'Hu', a water jug. On the bottom a decoration of an orchid (Cymbidium virescens), the Lan Hua a motif commonly seen on fine Chinese export porcelain of around 1740. On the inside rim a leafy scroll border reserved with flower heads.

This scene is interesting because the Chinese painter choose to portrait these two European figures in the symbolism of his own country by placing two large peacock feathers, two coral branches and two fungi in a large vase, the first being a symbol of high rank, the other two stand for longevity. (Lunsingh Scheurleer 1974, p. 222)

Spruit states that in her opinion the figures depicted in this scene are "tribute carriers", figures carrying something precious on their way to present the objects to the Emperor and by doing so acknowledging his power. In a museum in Taiwan there is a painting on silk by Yen Li-pên (618-907) on which we can see local rulers with their servants on their way to bring grace to the Emperor. These figures are depicted with exotic hair, clothes and precious objects such as coral, animals and plants. The barefoot servants who carry the objects wear the same slave wrist collars as our little boy (also barefoot). The he-goat is similarly spotted as the dog. Perhaps we can state that Yen Li-pên's painting on silk and this 18th-century decoration are two testimonials of a familiar motif, because they were the "tribute carriers", surely for the 18th-century porcelain decorators. So it seems very likely that the nameless porcelain decorator who decorated this teacup somewhere in a Canton workshop during the mid 18th-century, depicted an image that he could relate to, most likely from images he had seen on prints or in books of 18th-century Chinese "tribute carriers". (Spruit 1967, pp.179-183)

For identically, in encre de Chine or polychrome, decorated objects please see:

Condition: A tiny restored frit to the rim.

References:

Williamson 1927

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1966, cat. 213

Spruit 1967, pp.179-183

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1974, cat. 222

Hervouët 1986, cat. 5.8

London 1990, lot 154

London 2002, lot 447

Price: Sold.