Dish, porcelain, painted with coloured enamels, China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), 1662-1722

Dish of porcelain, painted in underglaze blue. In the middle, a lady and gentleman making music; a music party in European dress which is copied from a European engraving. Surrounding this, eight compartments of lotus petal shape, each containing a chinese mountain landscape. Underneath, three double-bamboo sprays.

bequeathed by Mr George Salting, Esq.

The design taken from Robert Bonnart, engraved by his brother Nicolas Bonnart. There exists an identical version of the composition, 'Auchitus/ Das Gehor' by Jacob Von Sandrast, published in Nuremberg before 1708. In the light of Bonnart's print being titled, 'Symphonie...d'Allemaque' it is proable that the Sandrast version is the earlier composition.
Bequeathed by Mr. George Salting, accessioned in 1910. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.

This dish is decorated with a design by the French artist Robert Bonnart showing a lady and two gentlemen making music. The design was made into a print by Robert's brother, the engraver Nicolas Bonnart.

To take advantage of the relative inexpensiveness of Chinese porcelain, many Europeans ordered their dinner services from China, sending their chosen designs to be copied on the tableware. This was probably the case with this example.

C.781-1910