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313.
VASE
PORCELAIN DECORATED IN
FAMILLE ROSE
ENAMELS AND
GOLD
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736–1795), CA. 1780
HEIGHT 58.5 CM; RIM 13.5 CM X 9 CM;
BASE 18 CM X 12.5 CM
INV. NO. 539
Large rectangular-section vase in the shape
of a flattened baluster, with a tall, neck,
narrowing towards the everted rim, high
flared foot and recessed base. Its shape
inspired by that of an archaic
fang hu
bronze
(a vessel used for wine, also with a
rectangular section). It also has two dragon-
shaped handles and a domed fitted lid
surmounted by a seated lion or
fo
dog.
Heavily potted in thick, white porcelain, and
coated with a bluish glaze. The rich overall
decoration on the outside was carefully
painted with enamels of the
famille rose
palette and gold in Canton around 1780.
The main decoration, enclosed in a wide oval
reserve on each of the broad sides, was
inspired by C. Mosley and W. Hogarth’s
engraving published on 6 March 1749
(fig. 58), entitled
The Gate of Calais
, and
subtitled
O The Roast Beef of Old England,
which was in turn based on an oil painting by
William Hogarth (1697-1764) and subtitled
after an anti-French nationalist song by
Henry Fielding which was included in his
Grub Street Opera
of 1731 (fig. 59). 1 The
decoration above and below the central
scene and on the sides, is mainly of reserves
and cartouches of various shapes and sizes
filled with Chinese landscapes, most of them
framed with elaborate foliage scrolls, flowers
and shell motifs
en grisaille
and gold: those
above the central scene illustrate a landscape
with a bird cage, a hen with chicks and other
birds; on the neck, a picnic with five figures,
three of them sitting at a large table with
three plates of delicacies and a picnic basket
on the ground; below, an oblong reserve with
floral motifs. The small cartouches on the
upper part of the vase contain landscapes
painted in orangey sepia. The sides, next to
the base, are decorated with two scenes
showing Chinese figures: one with a man and
a child beside a bird cage, looking at two
birds holding small flowers in their beaks,
in a garden next to a pavilion overlooking a
lake; the other with two women and a girl in
another garden close to a lake. Two
cartouches, one on each side of the blue
enamelled handles, which are highlighted in
aubergine, show flowering branches with
birds, and on the neck, leaf-shaped reserves
containing sprays of flowers. The decoration
also includes other reserves with landscapes
painted in orangey sepia. Besides the
reserves, the neck, the foot and the base are
decorated with a diaper ground. This pattern
is also featured on the lid, together with four
reserves containing landscapes, two of them
in sepia. The lion, with its mouth open
214 .
CHINESE PORCELAIN WITH WESTERN DECORATION
Figure 58. William Hogarth, 1697-1764, Mosley, Charles 1744-circa 1770
O the Roast Beef of Old England (‘The Gate of Calais’) 1749
Etching and engraving on paper
image: 432 x 569 mm
© Tate, London 2009