Architectural Fitting
1747-1770 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This ceramic fragment with a turquoise-blue glaze was once part of a large architectural ornament in the shape of a shell. It was purchased by C. H. Wylde, the Keeper of the Ceramics Department at the V&A, in China in 1912 as a fragment from the Old Summer Palace, Yuanmingyuan, in Beijing. It most likely did come from one of the European-style palaces in Yuanmingyuan. These buildings were designed by Italian and French Jesuits working at the Qing court. The Qianlong emperor, who ruled China from 1736 to 1795, had a great fascination for western ‘exotica’. Yuanmingyuan was plundered and destroyed by British and French troops during the Second Opium War in 1860 and all that now remains of the splendid buildings are scattered ruins and architectural fragments such as this.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Stoneware with turquoise glaze |
| Brief description | Architectural fitting, stoneware with turquoise-blue glaze, Yuanmingyuan, China, 1747-70 |
| Physical description | Architectural fitting, stoneware covered with turqoise-blue glaze, modelled in relief in scrolling shell-like form |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Gallery label | Architectural ornament
China
1747–70
This fragment once ornamented a palace in the Yuanming Yuan or ‘Garden of Perfect Clarity’ in Beijing. It is from the palace building that held the Qianlong Emperor’s collection of European tapestries, paintings, clocks and furniture. This treasure store was designed in a mixture of European and Asian styles by Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766), an Italian Jesuit missionary at the imperial court.
Stoneware, with turquoise glaze
Museum no. C.382-1912(September 2009) |
| Object history | This architecural fitting is part of a group of objects purchased by C. H. Wylde in Korea and China in 1912. Wylde was the first Keeper of Ceramics and the first member of V&A staff to visit East Asia. According to acquistion record, this piece came from the 'Old Summer Palace of Yuan Ming Yuan'. Yuanmingyuan was the imperial summer retreat located north of Beijing. It was plundered and destroyed by British and French troops during the Second Opium War in 1860. This object would have been from the European-style buildings in the Yuanmingyuan, probably decorating the roof. |
| Summary | This ceramic fragment with a turquoise-blue glaze was once part of a large architectural ornament in the shape of a shell. It was purchased by C. H. Wylde, the Keeper of the Ceramics Department at the V&A, in China in 1912 as a fragment from the Old Summer Palace, Yuanmingyuan, in Beijing. It most likely did come from one of the European-style palaces in Yuanmingyuan. These buildings were designed by Italian and French Jesuits working at the Qing court. The Qianlong emperor, who ruled China from 1736 to 1795, had a great fascination for western ‘exotica’. Yuanmingyuan was plundered and destroyed by British and French troops during the Second Opium War in 1860 and all that now remains of the splendid buildings are scattered ruins and architectural fragments such as this. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.382-1912 |
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| Record created | February 7, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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