Description:
Chinese export porcelain oval platter, made for the European market, decorated en grisaille (or encre de chine or ink color) with extensive gilding on the foliage and the figures' flesh tones highlighted in iron red. Traditionally, the scene has been identified as the "Agony in the Garden" where Jesus found his disciples sleeping in the Garden of Gethsemane. However, the subject as taken from the "Decameron", fifth day, 1st novella by Giovanni Boccacio's (1313-1375), where Cymon, the doltish son of a Cyprian nobleman sent by his father to live on a farm in the countryside, first sees Iphigenia and her attendants sleeping beneath the trees near a cool fountain. Cymon stands motionless, leaning on his staff, overcome by her beauty, although he is soon transformed into a polished gallant by his love for Iphigenia. Numerous 17th and 18th century depictions of this scene are known, including the source of this scene, which has been identified as Peter Paul Rubens' (1577-1640) circa 1616 painting, "Cimon finding Efigenia"; other examples include those by Joshua Reynolds done around 1789, Benjamin West (1738-1820) in 1773, and Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807). The attendants are frequently omitted from 18th century versions as is seen on the engraved scene on the Francis Crump silver teapot in the Clark collection in Williamstown, Mass. In addition to the Decameron version, there were also retellings by Dryden in his "Fables Ancient and Modern" (1700), and by David Garrick in his successful dramatic romance, "Cymon," which opened at the Drury Lane Theater in London on Jan. 2, 1767. 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. There were only a handful of armorial services made with European subject decoration; the motivation behind this one is unknown. Howard (vol. 2, p. 216) reports that a number of pieces have been labeled "From Kinross House," and that the falcon crest may be for either the Halkett or the Graham family associated with that Scottish estate.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+SR.05 |
