Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 137, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Plate

ca. 1745-50 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The dish is decorated with a scene copied from the engraving Pèlerin de l"Isle de Cythère, made in 1708 by Bernard Picart (1673-1733), a French engraver active in Holland.

In Greek mythology the Ionian island of Cythera was a sacred place devoted to the cult of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Visual representations of the myth of Cythera began to be circulated in France around 1700, usually showing groups of men and women embarking on boats or arriving at the island. Only two pictorial treatments, including Picart's, depict single couples. The theme also became popular in theatre performances of the period, presented at the Paris Opéra as ballets and at the popular theatres of the fairs (théâtre de la foire) as comedies. Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), who pioneered the genre of arcadian representations of love and fête galantes, reproduced the motif in the painting L'Isle de Cythère of circa 1708-09, and in two other versions entitled The pèlerinage à Cythera of 1717 and in 1718-19


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Porcelain painted in enamels and gilt
Brief description
Plate, porcelain decorated with the scene Pèlerin de l"Isle de Cythère, China, ca. 1745-50
Physical description
Plate, with slightly canted rim; painted in the centre is a scene with a figure pouring from a bottle into a shell-shaped cup held out by a lady with a ribboned staff, perhaps a shepherdess, with a figure of Cupid among clouds in front carrying a torch, and in the background is a seascape
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 23.2cm
Styles
Credit line
Bequeathed by Basil Ionides
Historical context
After an engraving by Bernard Picart; Pèlerins de L'Isle de Cythère
Subjects depicted
Summary
The dish is decorated with a scene copied from the engraving Pèlerin de l"Isle de Cythère, made in 1708 by Bernard Picart (1673-1733), a French engraver active in Holland.

In Greek mythology the Ionian island of Cythera was a sacred place devoted to the cult of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Visual representations of the myth of Cythera began to be circulated in France around 1700, usually showing groups of men and women embarking on boats or arriving at the island. Only two pictorial treatments, including Picart's, depict single couples. The theme also became popular in theatre performances of the period, presented at the Paris Opéra as ballets and at the popular theatres of the fairs (théâtre de la foire) as comedies. Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), who pioneered the genre of arcadian representations of love and fête galantes, reproduced the motif in the painting L'Isle de Cythère of circa 1708-09, and in two other versions entitled The pèlerinage à Cythera of 1717 and in 1718-19
Bibliographic reference
Kerr, Rose and Luisa E. Mengoni Chinese Export Ceramics London: V&A Publishing, 2011, p.63, pl.79
Collection
Accession number
C.78-1963

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Record createdMarch 24, 2003
Record URL
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