A set of three 'Rotterdam Riot' plates

CHENGHUA SIX CHARACTER MARK, KANGXI

Details

A set of three 'Rotterdam Riot' plates
Chenghua six character mark, Kangxi
The centre painted with a scene after a silver medal by Jan Schmeltzing showing the attack on the residence of Van Zuylen van Nijevelt, chief bailiff of Rotterdam, some figures dismantling beams and masonry, others scaling ladders or spilling bales of merchandise into the street near a cannon, the rim with floral cartouches on a diaper-pattern ground, the reverse with a lotus scroll and swastika (two with small rim chips and one with a rim crack)
20 cm. diam. (3)

Lot Essay

The central scene is taken from a silver medal by Jan Schmeltzing (1656-1693) after an engraving by Gerard van Loon. Howard & Ayers, China for the West, vol.I, p. 60, gives a detailed account of this riot following the execution of Cornelis Kosterman in 1690. The chief bailiff, Van Zuylen van Nijevelt, had sentenced this young guard from the Rotterdam City Hall to death in his attempt to steal some wine from the cellars for a celebration with his colleagues. Howard & Ayers illustrate, China for the West, no. 15, a severed head of Cornelis Kosterman on a funerary monument, which was taken from the reverse of the medal.

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