An enamelled 'European Subject' teapot, cover and a tray

CIRCA 1720-1730

Details

An enamelled 'European Subject' teapot, cover and a tray
Circa 1720-1730
Decorated in shades of iron-red, sepia and gilt with touches of green, one side depicting a couple in European 18th Century dress standing beside a dog underneath a maple tree in a fenced garden, below a narrow cell-pattern border reserved with floral cartouches, 11 cm. high; and a square tray moulded with notched corners, the centre repeated with the above design, 11.5 cm x 11.5 cm (minute frittings)

Literature

D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Chinese Export Porcelain, London, 1974, p. 137 and fig. 203; D.S. Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader, 1994, p. 62, pl. 37; and Hervout & Bruneau, La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes Dcor Occidental, pp. 152-153.

Lot Essay

The couple depicted on the teapot and tray is often referred to as Governor Duff and his wife, which is suggested to be the name the Chinese gave Diederik Duiver (1676-1740), Governor of the Dutch East India Company from 1729-1731, as they were unable to pronounce his name correctly. The same couple has also been described as Louis XIV and Mme de Montespan or simply a Frisian couple. Both D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer and M. Beurdely are in agreement, however, that the subject is Dutch rather than French.

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