An 18th Century Chinese Export Porcelain Teapot, Probably Decorated at the Workshop of James Giles.
A London decorated Chinese export porcelain teapot and cover c.1750-1760, Enamelled in London between c.1755-1765. The lotus flower shaped body and cover Chinese Export Porcelain was painted in London, possibly by James Giles’s studio, with a Large sprig of English flowers, and further scattered flowers as well as a butterfly.
SOLD
- Condition
- There is a long thin flake type chip under the spout.
- Size
- Height : 12.3 cm (4 3/4 inches).
- Provenance
- Sotheby's 12th November 1996, lot 461. The Helen Espir Collection of European Chinese Porcelain.
- Stock number
- 24723
- References
- Exhibited and published : The Early James Giles and his Contemporary London Decorators (Stephen Hanscombe, Stockspring Antiques, 2008. ISBN 095501592-8) item number 69.
Photos
Information
English Decoration on White Chinese Porcelain :
This type of English enamel decoration on Chinese export porcelain should be seen in a different way to what is referred to as `over-decorated` or `clobbered` porcelain. Those terms refer to Chinese porcelain that was imported into Europe as finished articles, but were either too plain for merchants to sell or their profits could be enhanced by adding enamels over the existing Chinese decoration. The present example was plain white when it arrived in England, it would not have been salable and so no merchant would have ordered it to retail. However, James Giles must have ordered allot of white porcelain specifically for decoration at his workshop in London. The shapes ordered were the lasted fashion in Europe as was the decoration he added. To my mind this makes these objects separate and distinct from other Chinese porcelain, China only provided the blank `canvas` and even that was of a form dictated to by Europe. For this reason these objects could primarily be see as English, they would have been totally alien to the Chinese.