dish BM-Franks.892.+

Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1737-1740 (circa)
Materials:porcelain, gold,
Technique:painted, gilded,
Subjects:heraldry
Dimensions:Diameter: 41.70 centimetres Height: 5.70 centimetres Weight: 1.50 kilograms

Description:
‘Grisaille’-and-gold painted plate with a scene from Greek mythology and a Scottish coat of arms. This large plate is a companion piece to BMFranks. 893+ and is similarly painted with a faithful copy of an engraving, but the stories depicted are unconnected. The present plate shows a lady immersing a child in a river, with two others attending behind. To the left is a half undressed lady resting on an overturned water jar, and a winged female figure holding a laurel wreath and palm frond, both in front of a table with a wine jug, fruit bowl and other vessels; to the right is a man with ugly features, carrying a burning brazier, and a centaur (half man, half horse) appears in a phantastic landscape in the background.
IMG


Comments:Harrison-Hall and Krahl 1994:The central scene depicts the infant Achilles, the later Greek hero of the Trojan War, being dipped into the Styx, the river of the underworld, by his mother Thetis, who thus made his body invulnerable except for the heel by which she held him. The lady resting on the water jar may also be a reference to Thetis, the sea goddess. Behind her is a winged Nike, who symbolizes victory. The man to the right’is Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and heavenly smith, who forged an armour for Achilles when he re-entered battle at Troy. The centaur represents Cheiron, protector of immortal Thetis and her mortal husband, and tutor of Achilles. The design of this plate has been attributed to the French painter Eustache Le Sueur (1617-55; Howard, 1974, p. 335). Paintings by Le Sueur, similar in composition and style, are reproduced in early 19th- century engravings in Landon, 1803-17, but the present scene is not included. The reverse of this plate is painted with the same coat of arms as BM Franks. 893+, which has been identified as belonging to the family French of Thornidykes and Frenchlands of Berwickshire. This design appears very similarly again painted in sepia on a smaller plate (Hervouet and Bruneau, 1986, no. 13.37), and on another in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (no. C.76-1963), both of them lacking the coat of arms. Palace Museum, Beijing 20074.19The design on this plate is a faithful copy of a print by Edme Jeaurat (1688-1738) after Nicolas Vieughels (1668-1737)