Description
finely painted with a shepherdess standing behind a gnarled tree and holding a shepherd's staff, beside three goats, the scene enclosed within a reticulated border
Dimensions
21.5cm diam
Footnote
Provenance:
Private English collection.
Happy Marriage of East and West
The present lot demonstrates a fascinating blending of Western and Eastern art in that it combines the traditional Chinese 'three goats' motif with the popular shepherdess theme in European iconography. 'Three Goats', as in the idiom 'San Yang Kai Tai' (Three goats herald a new beginning), have been a symbol of good fortune in China since antiquity. Shepherds and shepherdesses, on the other hand, were the dominant figures in 17th and 18th century European pastoral paintings, especially portraiture. It was in vogue for aristocratic and wealthy patrons to have themselves portrayed as shepherds and shepherdesses to express their longing for Arcadia.
Although 'shepherdess and flock' depictions are common in 18th century Chinese export porcelain, the present dish is quite unique in the way it employs chiaroscuro to generate a strong sense of plasticity. The same degree of three-dimensionality can only be found on ink paintings and reverse glass paintings directly influenced by Western missionary painters working in the Imperial Court, most prominently Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shining, 1688-1766). It may not be too far-fetched to say that the anonymous painter of the present dish, just like his contemporaries working in other mediums, was a follower of Castiglione, even if remotely.