saucer BM-Franks.752.+a

Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1770-1796 (circa)
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed, painted,
Subjects:milkmaid/dairyman european
Dimensions:Diameter: 16 centimetres

Description:
‘Famille rose’ saucer with surprise design. This saucer shows on the front a milk maid balancing a churn on her head and lifting her skirt to climb over a stile, with her underskirt visible. A landscape with mountains, painted in a Chinese manner, forms the background. The surprise comes by turning the piece over, where one finds the same maid bending over and lifting her skirt right up to expose her behind, while peering back at the viewer.
IMG


Comments:Harrison-Hall and Krahl 1994:Several saucers of this type are known, which would seem to have been made individually, for amusement, rather than as parts of services for practical use; but a matching tea cup is in the Musees Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels, Belgium, together with two saucers of the samedesign, but more finely painted (Taipei, 1992, p. 69 top); another saucer is in the Musee. Guimet, Paris, France (Taipei, 1992, p. 81).