Sold Ceramics
Sold Famille Rose wares 1725-1800
Dishes
Page 1
There was great demand for Chinese porcelain in Europe at the end of the 17th century. This led to the production of a variety of shapes and decorations while the competition between private merchants also contributed to a very varied supply. Besides porcelain decorated in underglaze blue, famille verte and Chinese Imari, many other types emerged, decorated with overglaze enamels that were sometimes combined with underglaze blue. The most important development, however, was the use of a pink-red enamel around 1725. Porcelain decorated with this enamel is called famille rose. Within a very short time this type supplanted famille verte and became the popular choice for all kinds of export porcelain. Mixing the rose with white enamel created shades of colour that suggested depth and volume. Famille rose knows a great variety in quality and decorations. The name was invented in the 19th century; before that it was simply called 'enameled'. Rose enamel was first developed in the Imperial workshops in Beijing and applied on enameled copper and bronze objects. Western chemical knowledge introduced by the Jesuits at the court around 1700 probably played a role. Since c.1725 it also was used on porcelain in Jingdezhen. Initially, the colour had a lilac shade but became a proper pink after c.1730. It was applied rather thickly and, unlike the very thin iron-red, can easily be felt on top of the glaze. Rose was applied on all types of export porcelain and there are countless combinations with other enamels.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Rose wares 1725-1800 - Dishes - Page 1
Object 2011123
Dish
China
1730-1740
Height 34 mm (1.38 inch), diameter or rim 206 mm (8.11 inch), diameter of footring 115 m (4.53 inch), weight 323 grams (11.39 ounce (oz.))
Octagonal dish on footring with a flat rim. Decorated in various famille rose enamels with gold with a central medallion of a lady seated on a bench in an interior holding a fan, two small boys at her side, one reading from a book, in the background a large jar and a table supporting a rectangular open hard binder containing a volume of books, a bowl with finger-lemon fruit also called "Buddha's-hand" citron (Citrus medica), a vase containing lingzhi, coral and a peacock feather and a bowl with a spoon, encircled by a puce ground border reserved with eight floral vignettes. The reverse is undecorated.
For identically decorated dishes, please see:
- Christie's pictorial history of Chinese ceramics, (A. du Boulay, Phaidon-Christie's, Oxford 1984), p.264, cat. 8.
- Chinese Export Porcelain and Works of Art, Sotheby's auction catalogue, London, 17 June 1998, p.55, lot 446.
For set of identically, in famille rose ruby ground decorated, dishes, please see:
The symbolism of the peacock feather, the coral branch and lingzhi in the vase on the table, the first being a symbol of high rank, the other two stand for longevity. The term 'famille rose' was first coined by the 19th-century French author Albert Jacquemart, who distinguished between specific groups in his descriptions of Oriental ceramics. (Lunsingh Scheurleer 1966, p.134), (Jörg 2003/2, p.25)
Condition: A professional restored rim, some frits and chips to the footring.
References:
Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1966, cat. 213
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1974, cat. 222
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Rose wares 1725-1800 - Dishes - Page 1
Object 2011941
Dish
China
c.1730
Height 25 mm (0.98 inch), diameter of rim 231 mm (9.09 inch), diameter of footring 122 mm (4.80 inch), weight 342 grams (12.06 ounce (oz.))
Dish on footring, flat rim. Decorated in various famille rose enamels including pink, some black, overglaze blue and coral red. On the rim alternating large and small cartouches outlined by blue leafy scrolls. They are filled with flowering peony and lotus against a coral red frogspawn pattern. On the sides flowering peony sprays in dark and light pink enamels against a white ground. In the centre a lobed medallion at four corners ending in a flowering peony scroll, filled with a coral red frogspawn pattern. In it two Chinese boys across from each other, facing in the opposite direction, lying amongst flowering peonies, each holding a leafy peony flower stem extending outside the centre. The reverse is undecorated.
The diapers of the boys are executed in black enamel, which is relatively rare. Famille noir occurs mostly on Kangxi porcelain and far less on later 18th century Yongzheng and Qianlong porcelain. There is a significant technical difference: during the Kangxi period layers of black pigment and green enamel were fused onto the unglazed body (email sur biscuit), which resulted in a deep blackness. Later on the black enamel was applied on the glaze surface. Here, a transparent green enamel is painted over a purple-brown ground of iron oxide and manganese. The patterns that are reserved then appear in green, like the scrolls on the nappy (Jörg 2002/2, p.124, cat. 84), (Emden 2015/1, p.90, cat. 59), (Emden 2015/2, p.124, cat. 59)
The depiction of a boy or boys among foliage became a popular motif on Chinese ceramics as well as on textiles and lacquer ware. According to Confucian philosophy, abundant male offspring was considered essential to perform the duties of the family in society and the rituals and sacrifices for the deceased ancestors. Only sons guaranteed the survival of the family name. A son should pass the civil service examinations, become an official, and bring honour to his family. Lotus in this context is pronounced lian, which is a pun for lian, meaning continuous, forming the rebus of a wish for many sons. The boys are traditionally dressed as babies. Their hair is shaved, except for three small tufts of hair, the traditional hairstyle for little boys (Ströber 2011, cat. 72), (Bartholomew 2006, p.58-59, cat. 3.4 & cat. 3.4.2 & 3.16.1)
For an almost identical plate with this design in the collection of the Museum of Decorative Art & Design (Kunstindustrimuseet), Oslo, Norway, please see:
For another example of two boys amid foliage on Chinese porcelain, please see:
Interestingly, this old Chinese motif which goes back as early as the Tang dynastie, is also found on Yixing and Kangxi export ware of the late 17th and early 18th century and present in quite a few Western collections. Perhaps because besides being exotic, the boys’ resemblance to the beloved European cherubs made it popular with Western customers? (Jörg 1995 pp.35-36, fig 12), (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 284)
Condition: Perfect.
References:
References:
Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 284
Bartholomew 2006, pp.58-59, cat. 3.4 & cat. 3.4.2 & 3.16.1
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Rose wares 1725-1800 - Dishes - Page 1
Object 2010815
Dish
China
c.1740
Height 33 mm (1.29 inch), diameter of rim 260 mm (10.24 inch), diameter of footring 145 mm (5.71 inch)
Dish on footring, flat rim with a foliated edge. Decorated in various famille rose enamels with a figure holding a peach and his servant carrying a basket filled with lingzhi near a taihu rock with a flowering tree in a fenced garden. On the rim eight cartouches, four filled with auspicious symbols, the other four with flowering peony sprays on a cell-pattern ground enriched with lotus flower heads. The reverse is undecorated.
The figure is Zhongli Quan, the Master of the Eight Immortals. He used to be a general during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), but he eventually retired into the mountains and attained immortality. He is generally shown with a feather fan used to revive the dead (and sometimes holding a peach), an attribute which, according to the Daoists, is used as a magical instrument, able to give life and destroy evil. Behind Zhongli Quan a servant carrying a basket filled with lingzhi, a symbol for immortality,
It is also opted that the figure in the centre holding the peach is the ancient Chinese Taoist god of long life and luck, Shoulao, the popular name for Shou-xing, the stellar deity of longevity, He is usually portrayed with an enormous head, carrying a long staff and a pumpkin gourd, which contains the water of life. In his other hand he holds the peach of immortality, sometimes with a crane of top. (Ströber 2011, pp.150-153)
The term famille rose was first coined by the 19th-century French author Albert Jacquemart, who distinguished between specific groups in his descriptions of Oriental ceramics. (Jörg 2003/2, p.25)
Condition: Some shallow loss of glaze to various spots on the rim and some slight wear/loss of enamel.
References:
Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Rose wares 1725-1800 - Dishes - Page 1
Object 2010285
Dish
China
1730-1740
Height 26 mm (1.02 inch), diameter 230 mm (9.06 inch), diameter of footring 127 mm (5.00 inch)
Dish on footring with a flat underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Decorated in various famille rose enamels and gold with a central peony-spray and a shi-tzu a Chinese Buddhist Lion-dog (Dog of Fo) sitting on taihu (garden) rocks. On the rim reserves filled with half flowerheads and reserves filled with a trellis pattern both on a whorl-pattern ground. The reverse is undecorated.
The 'Chinese lion' or shi-tzu (Dog of Fo) is supposed to be the Chinese conception of a creature never seen in China but told of by travellers or copied from the pictures from India as there are no records of lions in ancient Chinese writings before about 250 A.D. It is also called a Chinese Dog or Dog of Fo (Buddha) from which it is clear that dog-like characteristics prevail over the original leonine ones. The lion symbolizes guardianship and protection, from which belief is derived the practice of placing statues of lions at the doors of palaces and tombs as guardians of both the living and the dead against all evil.
Condition: An Y-shaped hairline in the centre, a tiny frit and a very tiny rough spot to the rim.
References:
Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Rose wares 1725-1800 - Dishes - Page 1
Object 201038
Dish
China
1730-1740
Height 28 mm (1.10 inch), diameter of rim 215 mm (8.27 inch), diameter of footring 123 mm (4.84 inch)
Octagonal dish on footring with a flat underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Decorated in various famille rose enamels and gold. In the centre a flowering peony, Chinese carnation and a lily (auspicious symbols of longevity and eternal youth). On the sides and rim peonies, chrysanthemums and narcissi with leaves, on a spiral diaper ground. On the reverse four stylized lingzhi fungi of immortality.
This dish fully corresponds to Jingdezhen production of the late Yongzheng and early Qianlong eras, when decoration often appears on dishes and bowls consisting of single floral sprays without rocks, bordered on the edge with floral ornamentation composed into lobed bands on a spiral pattern ground. We can find in worldwide collections a whole range of identical or more-or-less similar patterns, often differing only in minor details. Similar pattern are recorded in Europe from as early as the 1730s. (Suchomel 2015, p.404)
For an identically shaped and decorated dish, please see:
Condition: Perfect.
References:
Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Rose wares 1725-1800 - Dishes - Page 1
Object 201017
Dish
China
1730-1740
Height 32 mm (1.26 inch), diameter of rim 230 mm (9.05 inch), diameter of footring 125 m (4.92 inch)
Lobbed dish on footring, with a flat underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Decorated in various famille rose enamels and gold. In the centre a flowering peony, Chinese carnation and a lily (auspicious symbols of longevity and eternal youth). On the sides and rim peonies, chrysanthemums and narcissi with leaves, on a spiral diaper ground. On the reverse four stylized lingzhi fungi of immortality.
This dish fully corresponds to Jingdezhen production of the late Yongzheng and early Qianlong eras, when decoration often appears on dishes and bowls consisting of single floral sprays without rocks, bordered on the edge with floral ornamentation composed into lobed bands on a spiral pattern ground. We can find in worldwide collections a whole range of identical or more-or-less similar patterns, often differing only in minor details. Similar pattern are recorded in Europe from as early as the 1730s. (Suchomel 2015, p.404)
For an identically shaped and decorated dish, please see:
Condition: A firing flaw and fleabite to the rim, a few fleabites to the footring.
References:
Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Rose wares 1725-1800 - Dishes - Page 1
Object 2010841
Dish
China
1730-1750
Height 39 mm (1.54 inch), diameter of rim 220 mm (8.66 inch), diameter of footring 128 mm (5.04 inch)
Dish on footring with a straight underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Decorated in various famille rose enamels with two quails in a garden landscape with flowering peony and prunus plants and taihu (garden) rocks. On the rim a trellis pattern border with four reserves filled with peony flower heads. The reverse is undecorated.
The quail, or a pair of quails, fairly often used as a motif on fine porcelain, is a symbol of courage because of its fighting qualities. (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.213)
Condition: A firing flaw and two hairlines to the rim.
References:
Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp.77-105
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 237
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Rose wares 1725-1800 - Dishes - Page 1
Object 2011326
Cream dish
China
1730-1750
Height 29 mm (1.14 inch), diameter of rim 162 mm (6.38 inch), diameter of footring 89 mm (3.50 inch)
Cream dish on footring with a flat underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Decorated in various overglaze famille rose enamels with a flowering chrysanthemum plant in a single concentric band. On the rim a trellis pattern border with four reserves filled with flowering lotus plants. On the reverse three mushrooms (lingzhi) in iron-red. To the base an old paper label that reads: Stichting (Foundation), Geldersche Kasteelen (Geldersche Castles), Coll. Mw. Scheltema-Schönfeld (Collection Mrs. Scheltema-Schönfeld), schenking 1989 (donation 1989), lijst nr. (list no.), inv. nr GK II-4 (inventory no. GK II-4)
Apparently this cream dish was donated by Mrs. Scheltema-Schönfeld in 1989 to the Foundation Geldersche Kasteelen.
Mrs. Dr. H.J.H. Scheltema-Schönfeld, born September 11, 1891, was a dentist during the Second World War in the Dutch city Leiden. On May 10, 1940, Mrs. Scheltema provided shelter for a Jewish family, soon others followed. In total she gave shelter to 21 people at the same time. From her house all kinds of illegal activity (print / transmitting) was taken place against the occupying forces of nazi Germany. She herself took part in various illegal activities like transferring children from inner city Amsterdam to the countryside. She also visited the Dutch transfer concentration camp Westerbork with a suitcase filled with goods and letters. For these activities Mrs. Scheltema was arrested in May 1944. From February 15 to May 7, 1945 she was detained in Scheveningen prison also referred to as the "Oranje Hotel" (Orange Hotel) a German prison for Dutchmen who, in any way against the Germans opposing, were imprisoned for questioning and trail. For most prisoners the stay was not long lasting and followed by either release or further detention, often in Germany, or execution on the Waalsdorpervlakte. The liberation of Europe was begun but it took almost a year before the residents / prisoners of the "Oranje Hotel" (Orange Hotel) were released. On May 8, 1945, the first prisoners, under who, Mrs. Scheltema came out. Mrs. H.J.H. Scheltema-Schönfeld died in 1991. (www.rjhbrink.eu)
Jacquemart & Le Blant writing in French in 1861 christened the opaque enamels "famille rose" or "the rose family". These colours had been introduced to China on enamelled ware about 1710 by Jesuit enamellers who had experience at Limoges. Until that time underglaze blue, Imari and "famille verte" (Jacquemart & Le Blant so christened the translucent enamels) were almost the only palettes of export porcelain known in Europe. (Howard 1994, p.57)
Condition: Perfect.
References:
Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105
On 12 May 2013, Object 2011326 was sold for € 499 to an honourable Australian gentleman.
The sale proceeds for this object were donated to the Anne Frank Stichting (Anne Frank Foundation). The Anne Frank House welcomes around a million visitors every year, and thousands of children all over the world learn about the Second World War, the Holocaust and the story of Anne Frank through teaching materials or travelling exhibition. (source: www.annefrank.org)
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Rose wares 1725-1800 - Dishes - Page 1
Object 2010677
Dish
China
1730-1750
Height 32 mm (1.25 inch), diameter of rim 213 mm (8,39 inch), diameter of footring 121 mm (4.76 inch)
Dish on footring with a flat underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Decorated in various famille rose and (rare) famille noire enamels with a flowering chrysanthemum spray. On the sides eight leaf-shaped reserves filled with flowering heads reserved on famille noire enamels. On the rim gingko leaves with flowering peony and cherry sprays. The reverse is undecorated.
Surprisingly famille noire is mostly found on small objects and especially on tea, coffee and chocolate items. (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.194)
Condition: Some tiny (repainted) frits to the rim and chips to the footring.
References:
Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 219
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Rose wares 1725-1800 - Dishes - Page 1
Object 2010508
Dish
China
1730-1750
Height 31 mm (1.22 inch), diameter of rim 230 mm (9.06 inch), diameter of footring 125 mm (4.92 inch)
Dish on footring, flat rim. Decorated in underglaze blue and various famille rose enamels with flowering plants growing from taihu (garden (rocks), on the sides a trellis-pattern border with four cartouches filled with a single flowering peony. On the rim three flower sprays. The reverse is undecorated.
The term famille rose was first coined by the 19th-century French author Albert Jacquemart, who distinguished between specific groups in his descriptions of Oriental ceramics. (Jörg 2003/2, p.25)
Condition: Two fleabites to the rim.
References:
Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105
Price: Sold.
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