Page 292 - Bonhams Catalog Cohen and Cohen Jan 24, 2023 New York

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A RARE FAMILLE ROSE ‘EUROPEAN SUBJECT’ PLATE AFTER The scene depicts “Earth” from a print source after the painting by
ALBANI’S ‘EARTH’ Francisco Albani (1578–16 60), one of a series of the four elements
Qianlong period, circa 1750 painted between 1625-1628 for the Cardinal of Savoy, later King
Decorated in bright opaque enamels with a European mythological of Sardinia, which are now in the Galleria Sabauda, Turin. Cybele
scene after Albani’s ‘Earth’, the center of the dish painted with three is seated in her chariot surrounded by personifications of the three
female and one male figure, robed and un-robed, riding a chariot seasons: Flora as Spring, Ceres as Summer, and Bacchus as Autumn.
pulled by lions with six putti dispersed before them, with a large leafy Harsh “Winter” was absent as Albani intended to flatter the Cardinal’s
tree to one side and a river landscape behind, the rim with a gilt sunny disposition.
scrolling foliate border.
9in (23cm) diam All four designs are known on Chinese plates and tea wares. There
appear to be two orders of the plates, one with the blue border (see lot
$5,000 - 7,000 127 in this sale) and the other with a gilt foliage rim as in this example.
There are also differences in the placement of the composition within
乾隆時期 約1750年 粉彩繪阿爾巴尼之《大地》圖盤 the circle, suggesting a different workshop or centered painters for
each order.
Published:
Cohen & Cohen, Take Two!, Antwerp, 2017, pp. 146-147, no. 60 Series of these paintings were engraved by many different artists. The
series was issued by Jacques Chereau, Nicolas de Larmessin IV, or
出版： Nicoloas Dauphin de Beauvais, any could have been taken to China
倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Take Two!》，安特衛普，2017年，頁 but Chereau seems the most likely source (fig.1). Other prints by
146-147，圖版編號60 Chereau and Larmessin are known on export porcelain.

For another plate (Fire) from the ‘elements’ series, also with a gilt-
decorated rim, see Christie’s, 16 January 2019, lot 547
For two very similar ‘Earth’ plates with blue borders, rather than the gilt
borders of this example, see Christie’s New York, 20 January 2016, lot
70, from the Miller Collection; and 17 January 2018, lot 79, from the
sale of export art from the Marchant Firm, established in 1925.
References: Mezin 2002, nos. 67-70, 86-9, four plates with each of
the scenes and illustration of a set of engravings by Nicolas IV de
Larmessin; Williamson 1970, plate XXXIX, four plates including ‘Earth’
with gilt rim border and plate XXIV, a teapot with this design; Howard,
1994, 111; Beurdeley, 1962, 179; Hervouët & Bruneau 1986, 318-9;
Jörg 1989, 174-5; Le Corbeiller 1974, 64-5; Sargent 2012, 29; Palmer
1976, 71; Howard & Ayers 1978, 323; Gordon 1984, no. 46; Puglisi
1999, 144, cat. 60, the series and note of two further engravers;
Scheurleer 1974, no. 232; Pinto de Matos 2011 Vol 2 no. 320, 228,
(fig.1) a plate and illustration of the de Beauvais print version; Cohen &
Cohen 2016, no. 53, a plate with the same design and a blue enamel
rim; Cunha Alves 2016, no. 76, 134, a tea bowl and saucer with this
design.

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