A Rare Chinese Export 'Mythological Subject' Punch Bowl, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period, circa 1745

The present example represent one of the finest and most lavishly decorated Chinese porcelains made for the European market. The source prints were first identified and explored in François and Nicole Hervouët and Yves Bruneau, La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes a Décor occidental, Paris, 1986, cat. no. 13.84 a, b, c, d, pp 314-315. The four scenes on the present examples are decorated after the illustrations included in the 1732 edition of Metamorphoses by Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE -17 AD). The three exterior scenes, 'The Fall of Phaeton', 'Perseus and Andromeda' and 'The Rape of Proserpina' are decorated after the illustrations of Dutch printmaker Pieter Stevens van Gunst (1658-1732); and the interior scene of 'The Triumph of Bacchus' is decorated after the work of French engraver Bernard Picart (1673-1733). 

A closely related example, formerly in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Rafi Y. Mottahedeh, is illustrated in William Motley, Hit & Myth, Cohen & Cohen, London, 2014, cat. no. 47. Motley notes that given the extravagant decoration and cost of the commission at the time, the scenes were likely chosen with purpose. He further details that French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) wrote a number of Operas based on Ovid's work, including the myths of Prosepina, Perseus and Phaeton between 1680-1683. The author further documents revival performances of Phaeton in the Palais-Royale in 1742 may have contributed to the commission of bowls of this type, possibly for an opera enthusiast in England. Motley's views are further corroborated by Scholar Thomas J. Sienkewicz in 'Ovid in China: Scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses on Four 18th-Century Chinese Export Porcelain Punchbowls', Metaforms, vol. 22, 13 July 2022, pp. 88-109. Sienkewicz points out that Ovid's work was one of the most frequently translated into English in the late 17th and early 18th century, and establishes that particular Ovidian myths were adapted especially to the operatic stage, in addition to Lully's compositions. While many questions remain unanswered and further scholarship is needed, the present pair of examples serve as a glimpse into a unique moment in the history when the works of a Roman poet from Antiquity interacted with Chinese painters and potters in the Qianlong period by way of European engravings in the early 18th century. A nearly identical pair, formerly the Hyde Park Antiques collection, sold in these rooms January 31st, 2023, lot 74.