Page 22 - Chinese Export Porcelain MARCHANT GALLERY 2015

12. Famille rose richly enamelled coffee cup and saucer, probably with the scene of Jesus meeting Mary Magdalene in
the garden of Gethsemane, she holds a long ‘hoe’ while he holds her wrist in a forgiving gesture beside rockwork,
with a winged cherub above, all in a garden scene with sheep in the foreground and buildings in the distance, the
coffee cup similarly decorated.
The saucer 4 ½ inches, 11.5 cm diameter, the cup 2 ½ inches, 6.4 cm high.
Yongzheng, circa 1735.
• From the collection of Dr Hardouin, Nantes, western France.
• A similar coffee cup and saucer from the collection of Edward A. & Judi Eckenhoff, Washington D. C., was
included by Conor Mahony & Khalil Rizk in The Chinese Porcelain Company exhibition of Chinese Export Art from
the Eckenhoff and Other Collections, 1997, no. 64, p. 82.
• A spoon tray from the same possibly unique tea set in the Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Wilmington, Delaware,
USA, is illustrated by François & Nicole Hervouët & Yves Bruneau in La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes, no.
13.61, p. 306.
• The subject has been suggested to be numerous different religious and mythological scenes. After close examination,
we suggest the scene is Jesus meeting Mary Magdalene in the garden of Gethsemane, obviously taken from a
European print after a painting. The Titian painting “Noli Me Tangere” (c. 1514), in The National Gallery, London,
closely resembles this scene with the main figures transposed, which was typical of Chinese artists not appreciating
the iconography.

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