Description: Chinese export porcelain waste bowl decorated in green, brown, yellow, black, red, and gilding with a woman sewing under an overhanging tree on a knoll with rocks, a scene known as the Embroiderer or Seamstress, which is also found on tin-glazed earthenware; the interior well has a small foliate spray. Other variations of the Embroiderer are also known on Chinese export porcelain. Howard and Ayers show an earlier and more finely painted scene in polychrome enamels with a seated woman embroidering a framed canvas; and a domestic scene with a woman working on an embroidery frame with a second woman and a gentleman looking on. Another later, more common scene, which is also found on tin-glazed earthenware or delftware, is possibly after an engraving by the French artist Bernard Picart (1673-1733) who worked in Amsterdam; this is usually done en grisaille with a woman wearing a flower-patterned dress sewing in front of heavy draperies and a window through which a tower and ships can be seen, and an overturned basket under the window (HD SR.9 and HD 58.096).
Link to share this object record: https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+57.001 |