Interior of a Chinese shop
Fan Leaf
1680-1700 (made)
1680-1700 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This painting was originally made as a fan leaf which has been later extended to create a small-scale painting. It depicts an imaginary shop dealing in Chinese export goods including a wide range of objects. The distorted perspective and the fantastic mix of goods are reminiscent features of Netherlandish paintings showing collectors’ cabinet in the 17th century.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Title | Interior of a Chinese shop (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Gouache on paper, mounted onto a wooden panel |
| Brief description | Painting, Fan-leaf interior of a Chinese shop, possibly Dutch School, ca. 1680-1700 |
| Physical description | The interior of a shop dealing in Chinese export goods, including ceramics, paintings and furniture, enlarged from a fan leaf, extended and mounted on panel; figures dressed in Persian and Chinese costumes; more shop in the background |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Gallery label | Interior of a Shop Selling Asian Goods
About 1700
This shows the interior of a warehouse or shop in South or East Asia. It is stocked with Chinese ceramics and lacquer furniture, Indian cottons and other Asian luxury goods of the types exported to Europe. Many details in the painting are fanciful, such as the Middle Eastern dress of the women.
Possibly Dutch Republic, now the Netherlands
Bodycolour on paper, mounted on board
Originally painted as a fan leaf
Given by Sir William Lawrence, Bt(09.12.2015) |
| Credit line | Given by Sir William Lawrence, Bt |
| Object history | Given by Sir William Lawrence, Bt |
| Historical context | This painting was originally the painted leaf of a fan, but was later adapted to become a small framed painting. The leaf was stuck down on a rectangular wooden panel, and the image was extended to the corners. The scene represents the interior of a Chinese shop. The display of a fantastic profusion of luxury goods including lacquers, furniture, Chinese porcelain and redwares, Indian chintzes and Persian paintings as well as small ivory devotional sculptures, suggests that this shop is probably imaginary. The depiction of female shoppers in a mix of Turkish or Persian costume further supports such interpretation. In addition this range of objects in different media suggests that the shop must be a European fantasy as these objects would not have been sold together in China for example. The accuracy with which the wares themselves are represented however implies that the artist was familiar with these kind of objects. The peculiar perspective which shows a distortion in the proportions in order to make visible a maximum of objects is reminiscent of Netherlandish paintings depicting collectors cabinets such as the ones developed by Frans Francken II (1581-1642) in the early 17th century. A thesis further supported by the fact that the painting seems to imitate other Dutch fans of the period. It has been therefore proposed that this painting may represent a loose depiction of an importer’s shop in a European centre such as Amsterdam. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This painting was originally made as a fan leaf which has been later extended to create a small-scale painting. It depicts an imaginary shop dealing in Chinese export goods including a wide range of objects. The distorted perspective and the fantastic mix of goods are reminiscent features of Netherlandish paintings showing collectors’ cabinet in the 17th century. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | P.35-1926 |
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| Record created | March 10, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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