Description:
Chinese export porcelain plate decorated en grisaille (or encre de chine or ink color) and gilding with a landscape scene of Minerva with her helmet, spear and shield protecting the sleeping Telemachus from the approaching chariot drawn by two doves coming out of the clouds. In the chariot, a scantily-clad Venus urges Cupid to shoot his arrow at the fully-clothed Telemachus; another version shows him with his cloak open to his waist. This scene is based on "Les aventures de Telemaque" (1699) by Francois de Fenelon, the source for most postclassical treatments of the son of Ulysses. This episode in which Telemachus describes seeing Venus "cleaving the clouds, drawn by two turtle doves" was also a popular subject for operas, tapestries, paintings, and engravings. There is also another version with the same figures of Venus and Cupid above two seated lovers in 18th century costume, which was sold at Sotheby's in 1970. Chinese enamelers developed ink-color decoration as a method of reproducing print images on porcelain for the western market. Dominated by black enamels and washes, ink-color decoration was first produced in the 1730s and remained popular throughout the 18th century. Often period documents refer to this decoration as "pencil'd," reflecting its use of fine brush strokes and black color. The plate has two gilt bands with traces of scrolls around the upper curvature and gilt spearhead band around the rim edge.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+SR.33 |
