plate



plate

Summary

Plate made of Qing dynasty "Europeanised" porcelain from the Qianlong period. The rim is decorated in a Meissen imitation gilt design. The plate has been painted in China but for the European market with a scene of a wedding taking place within a classical archway in black 'grisaille' work, and touched with a pinky-brown hue. The plate is unmarked. A marriage scene is depicted after a print; probably a Bible frontispiece. The respective arms of the bride and groom are set above the two outer columns. Six other designs for similar services are known painted in the same delicate style, each decorated with the same pseudo-Meissen rim pattern of circa 1730 and bearing the arms of Dutch families.

Display Label

Plate Made in China 1736-1795 Porcelain, with transfer-printed and painted decoration Western traders in the 1700s commissioned Chinese potters to produce designs that appealed to European taste. This plate is an example of porcelain made for the European market; more commonly known as export ware. A few clues in the decoration demonstrate this: a wedding takes place under a classical archway, in a scene probably taken from a print such as the frontispiece of a Bible. The couple's coat of arms is of Dutch origin, while the gilt border is copied from a design by the Meissen porcelain factory in Germany. George Beatson Blair bequest 1947.551


Object Name

plate

Date Created

c.1740

accession number

1947.551

Place of creation

China

Medium

Credit

George Beatson Blair bequest

Legal

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