AN UNUSUAL FAMILLE VERTE AND GILT-DECORATED CHARGER

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN

Details

AN UNUSUAL FAMILLE VERTE AND GILT-DECORATED CHARGER
CHENGHUA SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE, KANGXI

Well painted in fresh colors with a scene of eight women galloping vigorously on horses, brandishing whips, as if in competition, all within a garden courtyard, some entering, others leaving, more weaving between the gates of trellis-work walls, watched by three well-dressed men, all with highly amused expressions, attended by two serving boys, in a lofty pavilion furnished with drawn curtains, a wave-pattern panel, softly draped chairs and a table ladened with a feast, the rim gilded (minor fritting and chips to foot ring)
21½in. (54.6cm.) diam.

Lot Essay

Compare the charger with a similar scene in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated in the Handbook to the W.G. Gulland Bequest of Chinese Porcelain, pl. XXII, See, also, George C. Williamson, The Book of Famille Rose, London, pl. XLIV, which illustrates a charger from the Martin-Hurst Collection of rose-verte type, dated to the Yongzheng period, decorated with the same scene, which is further surrounded by a floral border with six reserves. The author suggests that the spectators on the balcony are the Emperor and his attendants