A MAGNIFICENT AND EXTREMELY RARE PAIR OF PAINTED ENAMEL PANELS AND THEIR ORIGINAL LACQUER FRAMES QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD, CA.1770 |

each of rectangular form and exquisitely enamelled on a copper repoussé panel with a familial scene rendered with a sense of Western-inspired perspective, all set within its original lacquered wood frame gilt-decorated with foliate motifs, one panel decorated with a couple dressed in traditional Chinese robes and a young boy attempting to clamber up a lady, the gentleman dressed in green robes and holding a fan, the scene further decorated with two further young boys depicted standing nearby and looking at a pair of cockerels, the background with a doorway beneath a hung panel inscribed with Dongge (Pavilion of the East), all the details exquisitely rendered in rich enamels of varying tones with meticulous highlights, the other with a couple in fur-lined Manchu robes, the seated gentleman smoking a pipe and resting his left elbow on a table adorned with volumes of books and a vase, the gentleman rendered facing a lady holding a young boy by the hand, the scene with a further boy depicted peeping through a doorway with a small dog running towards him, framed by gathered curtains with the background opening onto a courtyard, each of the reverse with a paper label reading “Wlasnosc Franciszkow Potockich, Krakow, Bracka 2’” with an inventory number for 1939

Collection of Catherine II, Empress of Russia, gifted from the Qianlong Emperor, by repute.
Collection of Prince Henry of Russia (1726-1802), ambassador of the Prussian king, Frederick II, to the court of St Petersburg.
Collection of Princess Louise of Prussia (1770-1836), niece of Prince Henry of Prussia and married to Prince Anthony Radziwill in 1796.
The Radziwill family collection.
Collection of Princess Margaret Radziwill (1875-1962), married to Count Francis Potocki.
Collection of Rose Potocki, wife of Count Casimir Mycielski.
The Mycielski family collection, by descent.
Eskenazi Ltd, London.

This spectacular pair of panels belongs to an exclusive group produced in the eighteenth century of which only ten other examples appear to have been published. Six, from the famous collection of Chinese art assembled in the eighteenth century by Jean Theodore Royer (1737-1807), and now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, are illustrated in Jan van Campen, ‘Painted by Fire. Jean Theodore Royer’s Chinese Enamelled Plaques’, The Magazine Antiques, March 2004, pls V-IX and XII, of which pl. IX is also illustrated in Christiaan J.A Jorg, ‘Chinese Enamelled Copper for Export: Some Dutch Documentation’, China of All Colours. Painted Enamels on Copper, London, 2015, fig. 21. A piece of Chinese paper used as padding for one of these plaques is dated to 1770, which Jan van Campen suggests these as an approximate dating for their production (see p. 72). See also a pair of panels, from the collection of R.H.R. Palmer, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition The Arts of the Ch’ing Dynasty, London, 1964, cat. no. 353; and another pair sold at Christie’s London, 5th April 1976, lot 212. These ten panels share the same technical and stylistic characteristics as the present and are framed with similarly gilt-decorated lacquer frames, which suggest they were made at the same workshop. This group of panels demonstrate the remarkable ability of Guangzhou craftsmen to not only adopt Western techniques but to adapt them to suit their own domestic audience. The scene of a wealthy Chinese household is rendered in the Qing pictorial practice of constructing compositions whereby depth is suggested through the connected spaces that open into further rooms and the outdoors, which is probably based on Northern European models. Several Western techniques are utilised to give the sense of space: linear perspective in the architectural elements that also serve to frame the scene, chiaroscuro, and embossing for the figures. James Cahill in Pictures for Use and Pleasure. Vernacular Painting in High Qing China, Berkeley, 2010, p. 80, notes that "many Qing painters recognised in these foreign devices the potential for expanding the expressive capacities of their pictures, and found creative means of adapting and transforming them to suit their special purposes".

A sense of intimacy is created through the interactions of the figures, which appear to depict a family. The privacy of the events is highlighted through the drawn curtains, which acts as a spatial device as well as suggesting that the viewer has been invited behind-the-scenes into the life of this family. While vernacular subjects were painted from the Ming dynasty, it is rare to find them elevated to a status whereby they are masterfully rendered in expensive enamel-painted versions. The quality of painting, construction and the gilded lacquer frames all suggest these would have been made for a very wealthy merchant or presented as tribute gifts to the Court from Guangzhou.

The technique of enamelling on metal was introduced to artists in Guangzhou by Jesuit missionaries around 1684. Their location allowed these artists immediate exposure to wares from Europe and they soon mastered the technical skills of enamel painting on metal; earlier than those working in the Palace Workshop in Beijing. From a court memorial endorsed by the Kangxi Emperor and dated to the 55th year of his reign (1716) it is known that the Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi sent two artisans from Guangzhou to Beijing at that time to serve in the Palace Enamel Workshop (see Yang Boda, Tributes from Guangdong to the Ch’ing Court, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 63). Kangxi’s grandson, the Qianlong Emperor, was also known to recruit enamel artists from Guangzhou.

The manufacturing process of painting with enamels on metal begins with coating the metal object with a white ‘glaze’ similar to that used on porcelain. This is fired at low temperature, which helps to secure the enamel to the metal body. Decorators would apply the design in coloured enamels, which was then fired again at low temperature after which black enamel, which did not require firing, was applied and the exposed rim and foot were gilded. The enamel palette used was called yangcai or ‘foreign enamel’ as it was initially imported from Europe. Domestic production of yangcai started from around 1728, after the creation of the most important colour, opaque white enamel. White was essential for the artist to create pastel shades necessary for painting, especially landscapes, flora and fauna, and for achieving successful shading. By the Qianlong Emperor’s reign, the craft of enamelling on metal reached perfection with forms and designs often reflecting the Emperor’s extravagant and lavish taste.