A CHINESE EXPORT PLATE circa 1745

painted in grisaille heightened in iron-red and brown with 'The Tailor and his Wife,' depicting a frock-coated gentleman walking beside his wife seated on a goat and being followed by a putto carrying a basket of flowers in a hilly landscape, the cavetto with a gilt blossom and scroll border, and the rim with four panels of dogs chasing a boar or a stag within strapwork and foliate scrolls perched upon by two pairs of spread-winged birds.  Chip beneath the rim edge.

The collection of Florence J. Gould, sold, Sotheby's, Monte Carlo, June 27, 1984, lot 1410

San Francisco, Fall Antiques Show, 1995

3/8 inch chip under the edge at 12 o'clock, 2mm chip under the edge at 1 o'clock and some other tiny chips in that area, a 1mm chip under the edge at 3:00 and 4:30, stacking wear and almost total wear to gilding on rim edge.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A differently bordered plate decorated with this subject is illustrated by Hervouët and Bruneau, p. 199, no. 9.17, and was in the collection of François Hervouët, sold at Sotheby's in Monte Carlo on June 22, 1987, lot 1635.  The subject must have been taken from a print, but whether it was intended to represent 'Count Brühl's Tailor and his Wife,' a popular subject in Meissen porcelain, the wife riding a goat modeled in 1740 by Johann Friedrich Eberlein (1696-1749), an example of which is illustrated by Rainer Rückert, Meissener Porzellan 1710-1810 (1966), pl. 216, no. 978; or whether it was a contemporary vision of 'The Flight into Egypt,' is not known because the original print has not yet come to light.