Page 40 - Chinese Export Porcelain MARCHANT GALLERY 2015

25. Famille rose Element plate, painted with ‘Earth’ depicting Cybele, mother of the gods and symbol of the universe,
standing in a chariot pulled by lions and accompanied by three figures, who represent seasons, including Ceres, goddess
of summer, and Bacchus, god of wine and autumn, and the naked figure of Flora, goddess of spring, with the figure of
winter omitted, cherubs playing with and collecting flowers in the foreground, all in a landscape scene encircled by a
blue-enamel scrollwork border.
9 inches, 22.8 cm diameter.
Early Qianlong, circa 1740.
• From the collection of Dr Hardouin, Nantes, western France.
• A similar plate is illustrated by David S. Howard & John Ayers in China for the West, Volume one, no. 328, p. 332;
another, from the collection of Martin Hurst, is illustrated by François & Nicole Hervouët & Yves Bruneau in La
Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes, no. 13. 95, p. 319; another is illustrated by Elinor Gordon in Collecting Chinese
Export Porcelain, no. 46, p. 61.
• The scene is after a design by Francesco Albani (1578-1660), who was commissioned by the cardinal of Savoy, who
became King of Sardinia in 1720. The series consists of four circular paintings of the elements: Air, Water, Fire, and
Earth. The original designs are in the Turin Gallery, and are believed to have been originally commissioned for the
Borghese Palace in Rome. It is said that the artist’s wife and children served as models.
• A similar plate with a gilt floral border, gift of Mrs. William S. Youngman, 1970, E50560, is illustrated by William
R. Sargent in Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics, from the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, no. 156, p.
297; another is illustrated by D. F. Lunsingh Scheurleer in Chinese Export Porcelain, Chine de Commande, no. 232; a
further example, from the Martin Hurst Collection, is illustrated George C. Williamson in The Book of Famille Rose,
pl. XXXIX, where the author states ‘The plates are brilliantly decorated, the predominant colours being rose, canary-
yellow, blue and green.’
• A set of four engravings of ‘The Elements’ in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, by Nicolas Dauphin de Beauvais
(1687-1763), with similar images slightly simplified from the Albani designs, is illustrated by Luísa Vinhais & Jorge
Welsh in their exhibition catalogue of European Scenes in Chinese Porcelain, 2005, no. 52A-D, pp. 206/7.

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