Marked Chinese Export plate, Batavian ground with European Figures in famille rose, Qianlong mark & period c.1755
$1,650.00 AUD
Rare Chinese Export ‘Batavian’ ware plate, the mottled brown ground with five circular reserves painted in famille rose colours with Europeans in garden settings, with a central lady in pink dress surrounded by gentlemen in blue or green coats, one apparently throwing a handful of silver coins (!), the ground with simple foliate designs in gold, the reverse with red sprays of bamboo.
Blue underglaze seal mark,
Qianlong, and of the period
Circa 1755
20cm
Condition: good, very minor wear to brown, gold is good, black with minor fading.
These brown-glaze wares are not common compared to blue & white wares, and appear to have been fashionable for a short period, the 1750’s. Their name comes from the Dutch trading settlement in the far east, Batavia. They are based on an earlier, paler brown-exterior export porcelain from the Kanxi period. The most famous source of these brown wares was the Gotheborg, a Swedish East India Company ship that made the voyage to China, returning full of trade goods in 1745 only to flounder at the entrance of the harbour of its destination, Gothenborg. Items began to be recovered from the late 19th century and sold throughout Europe. The 1980’s recovery from the Geldermalsen (1752) brought another large number to the market. Elsewhere, they are not common; one suggestion is they were considered to be ‘Tavern Wares’, ie not private pieces that would be cared for, but everyday commercial wares, and therefore their rates of survival were poor.
| Condition | |
|---|---|
| Size | |
| References |
In stock
