A model of a mountain scene with buildings, foliage and figures,carved in wood, ivory and mother-of-pearl, made in China, about 1790

A model of a mountain scene with figures, foliage and buildings. The model is made of a mixture of materials mainly wood, ivory and mother -of-pearl. The scene has many intricate details, and when looked at closely there are flowers, birds and insects hidden among the buildings and foliage. There is a parade over a carved ivory bridge, in front of a carved temple. The model is on a wooden stand with an ivory fencing.

The Paradises are a set of three, large, carved Chinese models. They are thought to be a triptych due to the shape of the mountain scene; 9346(IS) is tallest on the left side. No primary record for the commissioning, gifting, or acquisition of the models by the East India Company has been discovered. There is an unsubstantiated story that they were originally meant as a gift to the Empress Josephine from the Emperor Chia Ch’ing, or Jiaqing, but were instead captured en route to Europe by a British warship from the French.

The likelihood is that there is little truth in the tale, as such direct gift-giving was very rare between the Chinese Emperor and outside powers. As the only port open to foreign trade, Canton was a limbo zone under the watchful eye of the Chinese Co-Hong, thirteen Chinese merchants who were responsible to the Emperor. The Emperor in Beijing communicated with Canton through messengers between the cities. Canton was famous for its ivory carving, and it is known that Canton carvers were summoned to court to work in the Imperial Workshop. However, the assumption of Imperial provenance in such objects is more likely a romantic Orientalisation attributed to them later.

On closer inspection of the quality of carving, treatment of materials, and subject of the carving, it is much more likely that the models were commissioned by a wealthy East India Company merchant. The quality of carving (i.e. the intricacies, shapes used, and the amount of negative space) in The Paradises, even in comparison to other souvenirs, is less refined. This is further supported by the painting over of precious materials, where in many cases the ivory is left bare to highlight the whiteness of the material.

The Paradises first record in Britain is in the India Library Daybook of January 1810, described as ‘Received in last December…three carved landscapes from China intended as a present to the Chief Consul of the French Republic or rather to the Empress Josephine the whole of which have lain in the baggage warehouse several months.’ This is the only document that states their provenance, and so far any file from the East India Company attached to the models have not been found. They were then displayed in the India Museum and Library on Leadenhall Street, recorded in a print in Charles Knight’s London of 1843 as amongst the books in the library, next to Tipu’s Tiger (see mus. no. 2545(IS)). It is very likely that it was in this time that the story of the models' capture first appeared, the legend further supported by their public display in an place of learning. However, the India Museum was known to be a destination for spectacles, and displayed these objects in an attempt to domesticate the ‘other’.

The India Museum dissolved in 1879, and their collection was largely divided between the British Museum, The South Kensington Museum, Kew Gardens and other museums across Britain. It appears from a minute paper from the India Office Statistics and Commerce records for 1881 that The Paradises ‘were found by the special assistant at the stores when the transfer of the India collections to South Kensington was commenced last year, without labels or directions of any kind on them, and so clotted with filth that it was impossible to tell their value.’ This document does not repeat the Empress Josephine story. However, it does value them at this point as no less than £3000, which deemed them a place on display in the South Kensington Museum. The Paradises were moved the Eastern Galleries, which contained the Indian Section and the Saracenic, Persian, Chinese and Japanese Section.

The Paradises were moved from the India Section to the Bethnal Green Museum in 1930. It is not clear whether they were moved because there was not enough room or interest in the main museum, or because there was an intentional purpose for The Paradises in The Bethnal Green Museum. When in 1970 the Far Eastern Department was formed and many Chinese objects were finally transferred to the same department, The Paradises stayed at Bethnal Green. This was partially because they were not greatly important to the Far Eastern Department, but also they had become exceedingly popular at Bethnal Green Museum.

The Bethnal Green Museum was reformatted as the Museum of Childhood in 1974, and The Paradises remained there, displayed in the 1980s as part of a case of ‘Ethnic Toys and Dolls’. In 1984, after being chosen by the British Museum to be part of an exhibition as an example of Qing carving, the model of a Daoist Temple (9347(IS)) was transferred to the Far Eastern department after the exhibition, where it was displayed alone in the V&A’s gallery of Chinese export porcelain. This model was then placed on long-term loan to Sunderland Museum in 2014.

Probably made in Canton and thought to be a gift to Josephine, wife of Napoleon, from Chia Ch'ing, Emperor of China (1796-1820).

9349(IS)