dish BM-Franks.795.+

Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1725-1745 (circa)
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed, painted,

Dimensions:Diameter: 8.50 inches

Description:
One of a pair of porcelain dishes with European decoration showing King George II of England at the Battle of Dettingen (1743).
IMG


Comments:Dish painted with a portrait of George II, King of England, at the Battle of DettingenDish Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province China, 1725-40, overdecorated in Holland about 1743Porcelain210 mm diameterFranks 795+Bequeathed by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, 1897This saucer-dish is carved with overall floral scrolls under a blue tinged glaze and the rim is painted with a band of underglaze blue hatching. It was overpainted in Holland with an equestrian portrait of George II, with sword unsheathed, his horse rearing over the dead body of a French soldier with fallen sword and tricorne hat. On the reverse GEORG. II is written in black enamel.This dish belongs to a group of Chinese porcelains decorated in Holland to commemorate the War of Austrian succession 1740-48. Charles VI of Austria died in 1740, and in the following year the succession to the throne of Maria Theresa was challenged by Frederick the Great of Prussia supported by France. War broke out in Europe. In 1743 Britain, allied with Austria, defeated the French at the battle of Dettingen, near Frankfurt am Main in Germany. George II, wearing a yellow sash of Hanover, became the last British monarch to lead his troops into battle and it is this national triumph which the dish celebrates.The source for the design is likely to have been a popular engraving after an oil painting such as the portrait of George II on horseback at Dettingen by T. Burford (BM Engravings collection 1887.4-6.55).1Notes:1. Helen Espir, European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain 1700-1830, London, 2005, pp. 170-171, fig.20