PERIOD: 18th century
A CHINESE EXPORT BEAKER AND SAUCER CIRCA 1735 painted on the front and reverse of the beaker and in the center of the saucer with a European gentleman bringing a basket of flowers to a seated lady clasping a large sinuous gilt floral spray, the rim with a pink cell diaper border. PROVENANCE The William Martin-Hurst Collection, no. 28 (?) CATALOGUE NOTE On fine Yongzheng period famille-rose porcelains, European figure decoration is considerably rarer than Chinese subjects. An identical saucer is illustrated by Hervouët and Bruneau, p. 157, no. 7.43, who also illustrate a teapot and a saucer, p. 156, nos. 7.42 and 7.44, respectively, in which the gilt floral spray is either absent or treated as a branch above the figures. Another identical saucer is illustrated by Lunsingh Scheurleer, pl. 220, who also illustrates in pls. 285 and 287 a teabowl and saucer with this subject but with a different treatment of the gilt floral spray (similar to the aforementioned saucer illustrated by Hervouët and Bruneau), suggesting that the figures themselves were adapted from a European print. A differently bordered bowl and saucer, also from the Martin-Hurst Collection, are illustrated by Williamson, color pl. XL (top, right and middle, right, respectively); and a covered sugar bowl and saucer dish from that service are illustrated by Jörg 1989, pp. 206 and 207, no. 79. An interesting variation is illustrated by Kroes, p. 22, pl. XIII, who shows 19 pieces of a tea service, circa 1732-33, in the Groninger Museum, with the arms of Van Ens and Bochoute accollée, and with this figure decoration in subsidiary reserved panels. The covered tea canister from this service is illustrated by Howard and Ayers, Vol. II, p. 365, no. 356, and was in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Rafi Y. Mottahedeh, sold in these rooms on October 19, 2000, lot 209; and an identical beaker and saucer were sold at Christie's in Amsterdam on May 12, 1999, lot 406
PRIX: $5000