Pair of seated figures with globes

Chantilly

ca. 1735 · Soft-paste porcelain painted with colored enamels over tin glaze; gilt bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Asian countries were a source of considerable fascination and allure to Europeans. Asian figures were frequently chosen as subjects to decorate ceramics and other works of art produced in Europe, but these depictions were rarely based on firsthand knowledge and thus were usually fanciful. This figure of a Chinese man seated with a globe was intended to be decorative, but also may allude to China’s sophisticated understanding of astronomy during this period.

Artist

Chantilly

Date

ca. 1735

Medium

Soft-paste porcelain painted with colored enamels over tin glaze; gilt bronze

Culture

French, Chantilly

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Bequest of Douglas Dillon, 2003