Lot Essay
As early as the first quarter of the 18th century, unfired clay figures were made for the export trade. The earliest tended to be specific portrait pieces, such as the figure of a merchant by Amoy Chinqua in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts (C. Crossman, The China Trade, pp. 307 - 321). Crossman notes that most were made in the period 1780 to 1810, in two sizes, about 10 - 12 inches high and then the monumental size of the present lot. Their popularity continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, when figures of Western merchants as well as Chinese genre figures became fashionable, gradually loosing their individualistic portrait qualities in favour of exotic stereotypes.
The great interest in these figures in England is derived in large part from the personal tastes of the Prince of Wales, later George IV. The Prince's interest in Chinese decoration was first expressed in his Chinese Drawing Room at Carlton House; however his desire to create an Oriental fantasy culminated in The Brighton Pavilion of 1802. The final achievement, an ornate palace of fantastical proportions, was due to the combined efforts of the Prince himself and his principal designers, John and Frederick Crace, over the next twenty-five years. A number of Chinese figures of this type were prominently displayed in the corridor of the Pavilion (J. Morley, The Making of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, Boston, 1984, pp. 169-176).
Although the specific manufacturers and dates of such 'nodding head' figures - whether for Export or in Europe - are comparatively rarely recorded, a documented pair of nodding-head figures dating to 1803 'copied from the life and brought from Canton' are in the Peabody Museum (C.L. Crossman, The China Trade, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1991, p.317, col.pl. 112). Similarly, a group of related nodding-head figures were sold from the collection of David Style, Esq., Christie's house sale, Wateringbury Place, Maidstone, Kent, 31 May-2 June 1978, lots 200-204. Some of these figures were signed 'J.D. Gianelli...August 25 1807'. Gianelli was probably Dominico Gianelli (d. 1841), assumed to be the son of the sculptor in plaster J.B. Gianelli, who supplied four statues for the Great Hall of Carlton House in 1789 (R. Gunnis, The Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1965, pp. 166-67).
A paint analysis carried out by University College London revealed that 'The figure was first given a ground of gesso, and then a layer of lead white oil paint. The coloured decoration was painted over the top of this. The blue of the outer coat involved two layers of French ultramarine, a pigment which was invented in 1828. The red of the inner coat was based on vermilion. Some or all of the paper cut-outs could be older, as no 19th century pigment was found used on these. The figure has been restored twice. On the first occasion the white pigment was zinc white, and the restoration could be early or mid 20th century. A lot (possibly all) of the green foliage decoration painted onto the blue coat dates to this intervention. On the second occasion, the hands and some other smaller details were repainted'.
The great interest in these figures in England is derived in large part from the personal tastes of the Prince of Wales, later George IV. The Prince's interest in Chinese decoration was first expressed in his Chinese Drawing Room at Carlton House; however his desire to create an Oriental fantasy culminated in The Brighton Pavilion of 1802. The final achievement, an ornate palace of fantastical proportions, was due to the combined efforts of the Prince himself and his principal designers, John and Frederick Crace, over the next twenty-five years. A number of Chinese figures of this type were prominently displayed in the corridor of the Pavilion (J. Morley, The Making of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, Boston, 1984, pp. 169-176).
Although the specific manufacturers and dates of such 'nodding head' figures - whether for Export or in Europe - are comparatively rarely recorded, a documented pair of nodding-head figures dating to 1803 'copied from the life and brought from Canton' are in the Peabody Museum (C.L. Crossman, The China Trade, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1991, p.317, col.pl. 112). Similarly, a group of related nodding-head figures were sold from the collection of David Style, Esq., Christie's house sale, Wateringbury Place, Maidstone, Kent, 31 May-2 June 1978, lots 200-204. Some of these figures were signed 'J.D. Gianelli...August 25 1807'. Gianelli was probably Dominico Gianelli (d. 1841), assumed to be the son of the sculptor in plaster J.B. Gianelli, who supplied four statues for the Great Hall of Carlton House in 1789 (R. Gunnis, The Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1965, pp. 166-67).
A paint analysis carried out by University College London revealed that 'The figure was first given a ground of gesso, and then a layer of lead white oil paint. The coloured decoration was painted over the top of this. The blue of the outer coat involved two layers of French ultramarine, a pigment which was invented in 1828. The red of the inner coat was based on vermilion. Some or all of the paper cut-outs could be older, as no 19th century pigment was found used on these. The figure has been restored twice. On the first occasion the white pigment was zinc white, and the restoration could be early or mid 20th century. A lot (possibly all) of the green foliage decoration painted onto the blue coat dates to this intervention. On the second occasion, the hands and some other smaller details were repainted'.