A Chinese famille rose “butterfly and flowers” tea bowl. Yongzheng
The tea bowl is decorated in the famille rose palette with a rich naturalistic design combining blossoming flowers, leafy branches, insects, and butterflies with delicately veined wings. The butterflies are rendered in orangey tones. The central interior decoration is framed by a lobed reserve with undulating contours, set against a red-orange ground enriched with gilt […]
A Chinese “European subject” bowl. Qianlong
The bowl is decorated on the exterior with a large oval medallion containing a finely painted scene. The scene shows three standing figures set in an outdoor landscape: two men dressed in long purple and pink coats with tricorn-style hats, and a third man wearing a blue garment and carrying a large sack on his […]
An unusual Chinese famille rose vase, tianqiuping decorated with the “Hundred Antiquities”. Yongzheng
The vase, of an unusual globular form with a tall cylindrical neck, is decorated in famille-rose enamels with a rich ‘Hundred Antiquities’ motif. At the center, a brocade-patterned vase rests upon a stylized stand and contains an assortment of scholarly objects—brushes, a ruyi scepter, a folded fan, and scrolls—symbols of the literary arts and cultured […]
A fine famille rose “Chinese official” cup and saucer. Qianlong
The cup and saucer are decorated in the famille-rose palette. The cup bears a single medallion, while the saucer carries four medallions arranged around a central reserve depicting a mother and child. Each of the four medallions contains the portrait of an official shown in three-quarter view, attired in a long violet robe and wearing […]
A Chinese famille rose “European subject” plate. Qianlong
The plate is decorated in the famille rose palette, with a scene depicting Les Oies de Frère Philippe, engraved by Nicolas de Larmessin after a painting by Nicolas Lancret, that is now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. The border is decorated with a gilt interlaced ground punctuated by four lobed reserves alternating floral medallions, […]
A Chinese famille rose plate decorated with the Immortals. Yongzheng
In the centre, within a large circular reserve, appears a depiction of the Eight Immortals (Ba Xian), the celebrated figures of the Daoist pantheon, gathered in a rocky landscape beneath a pine tree, a traditional symbol of longevity. Each Immortal can be identified by his or her distinctive attributes: Li Tieguai, leaning on his crutch […]
A pair of Chinese famille rose plates with a lady and two boys in a garden. Yongzheng
Each plate is finely decorated at the centre with a composition depicting an elegant lady seated on a rock, watching two young boys playing nearby. The scene is set in a wooded garden adorned with banana leaves and pierced rocks, before a wall with a circular window through which scholarly objects can be seen. The […]
A Chinese “Flora and Cupid” cup and saucer. Qianlong
The cup and saucer are finely decorated in famille rose enamels, each with an oval reserve depicting a European scene: Flora, shown bare-legged and seated in a park, beside Cupid who offers her a floral wreath. In the background, a classical building with arches and columns is visible, together with a fountain and two small […]
An unrecorded armorial cup and saucer for a member of the House of Condé (France). China, Qianlong
The cup and the saucer are decorated in the famille rose palette, with a gilt border of shell and foliage motifs. The center of the saucer bears the coat of arms of the House of Condé painted in a rocaille cartouche under clouds, De France au bâton péri en bande de gueules en abîme, under […]
A large eggshell famille rose tea bowl and saucer decorated with two huntsmen. China, Yongzheng
The eggshell tea bowl and saucer are unusually large, decorated in the famille rose palette and depict two noble huntsmen wearing rich hunting clothes on horseback returning from the hunt, with a dog happily running in front. They are both smoking long pipes, deep in conversation. One of them is holding a bow and arrows. […]