318.
PLATE
PORCELAIN DECORATED IN
FAMILLE ROSE
ENAMELS
AND GOLD
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736–1795), CA. 1740
HEIGHT 2.2 CM; RIM DIAMETER 22.7 CM
INV. NO. 619/2
A plate, of similar shape and decoration as
the previous one, belonging to the same set
of the elements and copied from Francesco
Albani’s second painting, symbolically
depicting Air.
In the foreground, Aeolus, Roman god of the
winds, leaning naked against his billowing
pink cloak, opens the box in which he keeps
the winds, symbolized by winged
putti
: one
of them remains inside the box, while
another, free among the clouds, plays a
drum. And a third one held back by the
waters. Above the clouds, Juno, Jupiter’s wife,
traditionally symbolizing Air, arrives in a
chariot pulled by two peacocks. She is
preceded by Aurora and followed by her
messenger Iris, goddess of the rainbow, and
is depicted lying along the edge of the well
of the plate. A scrolling border painted in
gold, sepia and black round the rim encloses
the scene.
According to the words of the Italian artist 1
the sounds and noise heard in the air are
created by the vibrations caused by the
winged beings who live there.
Other plates with a similar design and border
are in the British Museum, London, 2 the
Musée de la Compagnie des Indes, Lorient, 3
the Quinta das Cruzes Museum, Funchal,
Madeira 4 and the José Pintado Rivero
collection. 5 Another similar plate was
published by Hervouët and Bruneau. 6
1 Hervouët and Bruneau, 1986, p. 318, no. 13.93.
2 Krahl and Harrison-Hall, 1994, pp. 136-37, no. 57.
3 Mézin, 2002, p. 86, no. 67.
4 Aragão, 1970, print III, p. 53.
5 México, 2002, pp. 19 and 83, cat. 10.
6 Hervouët and Bruneau, ibid., p. 318, no. 13.93.
226 .
CHINESE PORCELAIN WITH WESTERN DECORATION
Figure 61.
‘L’Air’,
engraving by Nicolas Dauphin de Beauvais
(1687-1763).
First quarter of the eighteenth century.
© Bibliothèque nationale de France, Cabinet des
estampes, Paris