Description:
Chinese export porcelain plate decorated en grisaille (or encre de chine or ink color) with an elegantly dressed young boy standing in wooded landscape with a pavillion in the background, leaning on his musket with his left hand and his right hand resting on his hip, and a dog next to him looking up; the curvature has the inscription "PETRUS DE WOLFF PETREIL" in black in a cartouche in reserve in a band of blue foliate scrolls alternating with panels of gilt, red and black stylized sprigs; and the rim has blue, red and gilt trailing floral sprays of peonies and pomegranates, and a gilt and black stylized sprigs border around the edge. 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. At that time, popular portrait images of beauties, heroes, or nobility were copied and sold by the hundreds. Prints easily traveled to different countries, allowing other artists to copy or plagiarize the original design. In this case, the Chinese enameler copied a print engraved by Peter Schenk (1660-1718/19) entitled "Petrus de Wolfe." Born in Elberfield, Germany, Schenk worked as an etcher, mezzotintist, engraver, and publisher in Amsterdam until his death there; he copied this image from a 1686 mezzotint by the engraver, John Smith (1652-1743) of London. Smith's mezzotints were in turn inspired by a painting by William Wissing of John Cecil, Lord Burghley, This inscription, which is original to the plate, is found on several examples; and according to Dr. Christiaan Jorg, there is also a Chinese export porcelain saucer with "Johannes de Wolfe Petr. Fil." (Petrus' brother), the decoration of which is also based on a Schenk copy of a John Smith mezzotint. Although based on mezzotints by John Smith and modeled after a painting by William Wissing, both prints are signed "Pet. Schenck advivum fec. [Pieter Schenk made from life] Amstelod: /cum Privil: Ord: Holland et West Frisia." The two mezzotints were possibly intended to represent Pieter (II) (1680-1712) and Jan de Wolff (?-1701), the two sons of the Dutch Mennonite Pieter Hans de Wolff (I) (1647-1691) and his second wife Susanna van Hoeck (1646-1693) Schenk's and Smith's images are undoubtedly derived from and inspired by the 1686 painting by William Wissing (1656-1687) of 12 yr. old John Cecil, Lord Burghley (1674-1721) (later the 6th Marquess of Exeter). Born in Amsterdam, Wissing immigrated to England in 1676. As a pupil and assistant of Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), Wissing readily found patronage at court and inherited some of Lely’s fashionable clients after the death of his master in 1680. Chinese artisans struggled to recreate elements of the original engraving, especially the trees and foliage.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+53.P.13 |
