A Chinese Export Reverse Painted Glass Mirror
Klubbat för:
100000 SEK
Utropspris
80 000-90 000 SEK
Beskrivning
A Chinese Export Reverse Painted Glass Mirror, depicting an elegant lady feeding a small Eurasian Hobby with a dragonfly, she is wearing a fur trimmed beige Manchu dress decorated with scrolling foliage, a ruyi-shaped pendant necklace, flowers and ornaments in her hair. The young lady is seated in an interior with a blue curtain with tassels draped behind and a variegated framed marble stone at her left, surrounded by precious objects and potted plants. Within its original Chinese hardwood frame. Qianlong period (1736-1795), c. 49 x 38 cm, wear
LITERATURE:
Compare with: Jan Wirgin, "Från Kina till Europa", Östasiatiska Museet, Stockholm 1998, p. 297, image 306. The pair of reverse paintings on glass are from the same series, have the same frames and similar compositions to the offered painting. The provenance of those glass paintings is known: (They came into the possession of the Nordiska Museet, Stockholm, in 1919). The frames have an inscription which declare that they are a gift from Inspector Grave and his wife. Inspector Johan Sebastian Grave (1795-1885) was the great-grandson of Foundry Proprietor Hans Sebastian Grave (1688-1748), who founded the ironworks at Fredriksberg, Annefors, Gravendal, Strömsdal and Ulriksberg. The businessman and director of the Swedish East India Company, Claes Grill, was a close friend and business associate. It's not unlikely that the pair of paintings came into the possession of the Grave family through Mr Grill, perhaps also the offered object.
NOTE:
During the 18th century Canton was the centre for mirror painting of this type, although the plates themselves were of European manufacture, often French, supplied through the agency of the Compagnie des Indes. The taste for these pieces grew rapidly in Europe. The introduction of the technique of painting on imported glass in China is often accredited to the Jesuit missionary Father Castiglione (1688 - 1766), who arrived in Peking in 1715. However, this technique of reverse glass painting mirror plates was already well known in Europe and employed to great effect. The designs were either painted onto the mirror glass before silvering or traced onto pre-silvered plates so that the mercury backing could be removed prior to decorating. Once clean the plates were applied with a gum and then worked in reverse using a fine wire brush to apply the coloured oils.
Auktionsnummer:
3021
Datum:
2017-12-14