cup BM-Franks.596

Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1733 (Dated.)
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed
Subjects:european
Dimensions:Height: 4 centimetres

Description:
‘Grisaille’-and-gold painted cup with a Western couple and a Dutch inscription. The cup is painted on one side with a Western couple, the lady in elaborate robes and with long curly hair, holding a small tea cup, the gentleman, also with long hair and wearing a wide coat over a uttoned vest, gazing at the lady. On the reverse is a dated inscription written in a florid hand, reading ‘GESONTHEYD JUFFROUWE(sic) Ao 1733’, which means ‘to your health, my lady; in the year 1733’. The rim is bordered inside by a golden flower scroll.
IMG


Comments:Harrison-Hall and Krahl 1994:This cup with its Dutch inscription and date is very rare, but the couple is similarly depicted on other Chinese pieces, enclosed by elaborate floral borders, for example, on four saucers (Hervouet and Bruneau, 1986, nos. 7.5-7.8); the couples on these saucers differ very slightly from each other, some showing both the lady and gentleman holding cups. The present piece with its inscription may have been commissioned as a birthday gift for a lady, and the inscription seems to be copied from a handwritten note.