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Pater Gratia Oriental Art

Famille Rose wares 1725-1800

Famille Rose

China, 18th century

 

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 'enamelled'.

Rose enamel was first developed in the Imperial workshops in Beijing and applied on enamelled 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.

 

2011026
2011026

Object 2011026

 

Teacup and saucer

 

Provenance: China

 

Dating: Yongzheng period (1723-1735)

 

A thinly potted teacup and saucer on footrings, spreading sides and rims with glazed bases. Decorated in various overglaze, famille rose, enamels.

 

Decorated in the centre with a roundel filled with a pheasant perched on pierced rockwork with flowering lotus, peony and chrysanthemum plants. On the interior wall a cell-pattern ground enriched with flower heads and three scalloped cartouches filed with a flowering plants. Round the rim a trellis pattern border. The reverse is undecorated.

 

The exterior of the teacup is decorated with a cell-pattern ground enriched with flower heads and three scalloped cartouches filed with a flowering plants. Round the inner rim a trellis pattern border

 

C.J.A. Jörg, in co-operation with A. Borstlap, J. van Campen and T.M. Eliëns, states in his “Oriental Porcelain in the Netherlands. Four Museum Collections" that 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.

 

Dimensions:

 

Saucer

 

Height: 19 mm (0.75 inch)

Diameter: 105 mm (4.13 inch)

Diameter of footring: 61 mm (2.40 inch)

 

Teacup

 

Height: 36 mm (1.42 inch)

Diameter: 65 mm (2.56 inch)

Diameter of footring: 30 mm (1.18 inch)

 

Condition:

 

Saucer: A frit to the rim.

 

Teacup: Two frits and two fleabites one with a connected tiny short hairline.

 

References:

Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105.

Jörg 2003/2, p.25, cat. 8.

 

Price: € 299 - $ 409 - £ 260

(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)

2010731
2010731

Object 2010731

 

Dish

Provenance: China

Dating: Qianlong period (1736-1795), c.1780

Large dish on footring with a glazed base and scalloped flat rim. Decorated in various famille rose enamels, iron-red and gold.

 

Decorated with "German flowers". This decoration was closely copied by the Chinese porcelain painter from a Meissen or other factory example, round the rim a spearhead border. The reverse is undecorated.

 

C.J.A. Jörg in co-operation with A. Borstlap, J. van Campen and T.M. Eliëns states in his "Oriental Porcelain in the Netherlands. Four Museum Collections" that 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.

 

For a similar decorated basket with saucer see;

Dimensions:

 

Height: 32 mm (1.26 inch)
Diameter: 315 mm (12.40 inch)
Diameter of footring: 190 mm (1.94 inch)

Condition: Some rough spots to the rim due to missing glaze and a chip to the base.

 

References:

Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105.

Jörg 1989/2, pp.234-235, cat. 93.

Jörg 2003/2, p.25, cat. 8.

 

Price: € 499 - $ 619 - £ 399

(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)

2010675
2010675

Object 2010675

 

Tea Caddy

 

Provenance: China

  

Dating: Late Yongzheng period (1723-1735) - early Qianlong period (1736-1795), c.1730-1740

  

Tea caddy of ovoid form with a domed cover, a pointed knob, on a footring with a glazed base. Applied scroll work at the spreading foot. Decorated in various famille rose enamels with iron-red.

 

Round the middle a trellis pattern border and round the neck a continuous decoration of pomegranates with flowerings branches and leaves. The cover is decorated with a flowering chrysanthemum plant.

 

C.J.A. Jörg, in co-operation with A. Borstlap, J. van Campen and T.M. Eliëns, states in his “Oriental Porcelain in the Netherlands. Four Museum Collections" that 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.

 

Dimensions:

 

Height: 130 mm (5.12 inch)

Diameter: 73 mm (2.87 inch)

Diameter of mouthrim: 32 mm (1.26 inch)

Diameter of footring: 48 mm (1.88 inch)

 

Condition: A tiny glaze frit and three very tiny 1 mm (0.039 inch) spots on the rim of the cover caused by a plopping bubble of glaze during the firing process.

 

References:

Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105.

Jörg 2003/2, p.25, cat. 8.

 

Price: € 399 - $ 555 - £ 347

(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)

2011096
2011096

Object 2011096

 

Saucer

 

Provenance: China

 

Dating: Qianlong period (1723-1735)

 

A thinly potted saucer on a footring with

a spreading side and rim. Decorated in various famille rose enamels, iron-red and black.

 

Decorated with a Lady and a dancing little boy in a garden landscape with flowering plants and a flowering peony tree. From a branch of this tree hangs a bird cage. The Lady presents a cup, most likely containing food for the bird, to the little boy. The reverse is undecorated.

 

C.J.A. Jörg states in his ":Chinese Export Porcelain. Chine de Commande from the Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels, exhibition catalogue Hong Kong Museum of Art" that the bird cage with a bird was a well-known symbol of chastity

and virginity in European art.

 

C.J.A. Jörg in co-operation with A. Borstlap, J. van Campen and T.M. Eliëns states in his "Oriental Porcelain in the Netherlands. Four Museum Collections" that 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.

 

Dimensions:

 

Height: 19 mm (0.75 inch)

Diameter: 115 mm (4.53 inch)

Diameter of footring: 66 mm (2.60 inch)

 

Condition: A tiny hairline and a frit to the rim..

 

References:

Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105.

Jörg 1989/2, pp.198-199, cat. 75.

Jörg 2003/2, p.25, cat. 8.

 

Price: € 199 - $ 258 - £ 160

(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)

2010767
2010767

Object 2010767

 

Chocolate cup

Provenance: China

Dating: Late Yongzheng (1723-1735), early Qianlong period (1736-1795)

 

Chocolate cup with handle, on footring with a glazed base. Decorated in various famille rose enamels.

 

On the exterior cylindrical wall a continuous decoration with two ducks, one in flight looking at another one swimming next to a flowering lotus plant and two pheasants one standing near pierced rockwork by a fence looking up

to another one standing on pierced rockwork with flowering peony plants. Round the rim a trellis pattern border with four cartouches filled with flowerheads. On the handle a floret between scrolls.

 

C.J.A. Jörg, in collaboration with J. van Campen, states in his "Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The Ming and Qing Dynasties" that cups of this shape, which always have a handle, are usually called coffee cups, but in fact are chocolate cups. This is made clear from the numerous references and descriptions of "chocolate cups with handles" in the records of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Orders state that "the cups must be straight without overhanging rims", the cup narrower inside. An average height of 70 mm is given and is stressed that the diameter of the rim should be equal to the height. Drawn models of 1758 which have fortunately been preserved, show four cups of this shape with different handles, which are specified as "chocolate cups" in the description. Large tea, coffee and chocolate services always included this type of cup, but they could be bought separately as well. Enamelled cups and saucers were bought by the Company for around 20 cents and sold in the Netherlands for around 50 cents apiece.

 

C.J.A. Jörg, in co-operation with A. Borstlap, J. van Campen and T.M. Eliëns, states in his "Oriental Porcelain in the Netherlands. Four Museum Collections" that 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.

 

Dimensions:

Height: 62 mm (2.44 inch)
Diameter: 60 mm (2.36 inch)

Diameter of mouthrim: 59 mm (2.32 inch)
Diameter of footring: 28 mm (1.10 inch)

Condition: Some tiny firing flaws.

 

References:

Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105.

Jörg 1982, p.112, fig. 46.

Jörg 1986/1, p.69, fig. 56.

Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.215, cat. 240.

Jörg 2003/2, p.25, cat. 8.

 

Price: € 249 - $ 306 - £ 195

(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on their exchange rate to the € price)

2010C42
2010C42

Object 2010C43

 

Teapot stand

 

Provenance: China

 

Dating: Qianlong period (1736-1795)

 

Teapot stand / pattipan or saucer dish, hexagonal ribbed spreading sides, lobed rim, on a flat unglazed base. Used as teapot or milk jug stand. Decorated in various famille rose enamels, black and gold.

 

Decorated with a central flower-spray within a leafy panel with a whorl-pattern ground enriched with various flower heads. Around the inside rim an oxidized silver clouds pattern border. On the exterior wall, four single flowering stems in iron-red.

 

T. Volker states in his "The Japanese porcelain trade of the Dutch East India Company after 1683” that as early as 1728 the Dutch East India Company, (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), "Dagh-registers" state that its ship "Coxhorn" that left Amsterdam in 1728 with destination China, returned to the Netherlands on June 13th 1730, fully loaded with tea and porcelain, among its cargo were, for instance, 810 tea pots, 251 pairs of small covered sugar-boxes and 600 pattipans. A pattipan was used to protect the surface of luxurious lacquer or painted tea tables, against the influence of a hot teapot or drops running from its spout. If, in certain circles, a special tea table was not at hand it served to protect the furniture or its valuable table-cloth from tea spots.

 

J. de Kleyn states in: ANTIEK, XXV-5, "Pattipannen en schuitjes bij de thee", (J. de Kleyn, December 1980), that the Dutch word "pattipan" is most likely derived from the English word "patty pan" meaning a pastry mould for little pies or pastries. These "patty pans" were very similar, in shape and size, to our "pattipannen".

 

C.J.A. Jörg, in co-operation with A. Borstlap, J. van Campen and T.M. Eliëns, states in his “Oriental Porcelain in the Netherlands. Four Museum Collections" that 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.

 

For a similar decorated teacup and saucer see:

Dimensions:

 

Height: 22 mm (0.86 inch)

Length: 133 mm (5.24 inch)

Width: 13 mm (5.24 inch)

 

Condition: Three frtis to the rim and three glaze frits to corners

 

References:

Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105.

Volker 1959.

Kleyn 1980, pp. 253-261.

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1982, p.44, cat. 141.

Jörg 2003/2, p.25, cat. 8.

 

Price: € 349 - $ 458 - £ 287

(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)

2010560
2010560

Object 2010560

 

Saucer

 

Provenance: China

 

Dating: Qianlong period (1736-1795), c.1750

 

 A thinly potted saucer on a footring with a spreading side and rim. Decorated in various famille rose enamels.

 

An overall decoration of two pheasants looking at each other and standing on pierced rockwork in a garden landscape with a flowering peony tree growing from pierced rockwork. The reverse is undecorated.

 

C.J.A. Jörg, in co-operation with A. Borstlap, J. van Campen and T.M. Eliëns, states in his “Oriental Porcelain in the Netherlands. Four Museum Collections" that 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.

 

Dimensions:

 

Height: 17 mm (0.69 inch)

Diameter: 104 mm (4.09 inch)

Diameter of footring: 59 mm (2.32 inch)

 

Condition A short hairline, a chip with a short hairline and three very tiny fleabites to the rim.

 

References:

Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105.

Jörg 2003/2, p.25, cat. 8.

 

Price: € 99 - $ 136 - £ 86

(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)

2010518
2010518

Object 2010518

 

Saucer

 

Provenance: China

 

Dating: Qianlong period (1736-1795), c.1750

 

A thinly potted saucer on a footring with a spreading side and rim. Decorated in various famille rose enamels.

 

An overall decoration of two flowering peony and chrysanthemum trees and two birds, one perched on a branch and one in flight. The reverse is undecorated.

 

C.J.A. Jörg, in co-operation with A. Borstlap, J. van Campen and T.M. Eliëns, states in his “Oriental Porcelain in the Netherlands. Four Museum Collections" that 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.

 

Dimensions:

  

Height: 18 mm (0.63 inch)

Diameter: 100 mm (4.10 inch)

Diameter of footring: 60 mm (2.40 inch)

 

Condition: Some wear to the enamels and a firing flaw to the exterior wall.

 

References:

Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105.

Jörg 2003/2, p.25, cat. 8.

 

Price: € 99 - $ 136 - £ 86

(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate

2010517
2010517

Object 2010517

 

Saucer

 

Provenance: China

 

Dating: Qianlong period (1736-1795), c.1750

  

A thinly potted saucer on a footring with a spreading side and rim. Decorated in various famille rose enamels. 

 

Decorated in the centre with vase on a table filled with flowering branches, the vase is surrounded by two flowering peony plants and tassels. On the interior wall flowering peony-heads with various other flowers. The reverse is undecorated.

 

C.J.A. Jörg, in co-operation with A. Borstlap, J. van Campen and T.M. Eliëns, states in his “Oriental Porcelain in the Netherlands. Four Museum Collections" that 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.

 

Dimensions:

  

Height: 22 mm (0.87 inch)

Diameter: 114 mm (4.49 inch)

Diameter of footring: 66 mm (2.60 inch)

 

Condition: A tiny fleabite and a short, 9 mm (0.35 inch) hairline to the rim.

 

References:

Jacquemart & Le Blant 1862, pp. 77-105.

Jörg 2003/2, p.25, cat. 8.

 

Price: € 99 - $ 136 - £ 86

(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)