1985.R.853, Charger, porcelain, Jingdezhen, China, c. 1740-1750

This large plate depicts the harbor of a great fortified city. Despite the presence of some European-style architecture and figures at front left, the view is probably meant to represent an Islamic trading center with its many domes and minarets. The trade theme is further emphasized by the four border reserves within feathery cartouches on the plate's rim, each of which depicts figures in discussion on a riverbank outside the city walls. For both Europeans and Chinese, the Near East was an important trading partner. For example, much Chinese export porcelain was sold there. The predominantly orange, or iron-red, palette is varied with rose, yellow, and translucent green, and, for the sky and water, a delicate blue.

At present, no other plate like this one has been located, although the scrollwork used here between and around the scenes is known on other pieces. Such details were initially used at the Meissen factory in Germany during the 1730s. When Europeans sent this porcelain to Asia for copying, the Chinese adapted the scrollwork and incorporated it into many of their mid-18th century pieces. 

This large plate depicts the harbor of a great fortified city. Despite the presence of some European-style architecture and figures at front left, the view is probably meant to represent an Islamic trading center with its many domes and minarets. The trade theme is further emphasized by the four reserves on the plate's rim, each of which depicts figures in discussion on a riverbank outside the city walls. For both Europeans and Chinese, the New East was an important trading partner. For example, much Chinese export porcelain was sold there. 

At present, no other plate like this one has been located, although the scrollwork used here between and around the scenes is known on other pieces. Such details were initially used at the Meissen factory in Germany during the 1730s. When Europeans sent this porcelain to Asia for copying, the Chinese adapted the scrollwork and incorporated it into many of their mid-18th century pieces. 

Dallas Museum of Art, Decorative Arts Highlights from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 106.

The well of this rare plate is decorated with a scene of the approaches to a walled town along the banks of a river. The three, possibly Dutch, burghers standing among the shrubs in the left foreground and the converging lines of the riverbanks project the rest of the scene into the distance. Despite the Renaissance architecture glimpsed at left, the fortified buildings, towers, and domes within the walls are probably fanciful and may be intended to suggest a Near Eastern locale. The four border reserves within feathery cartouches contain familiar European scenes of figures, castles, and riverscapes possibly derived from Meissen harbor scenes popular during the 1720's to 40's, or from German or Dutch copper engravings. The predominantly orange, or iron-red, palette is varied with rose, yellow, and translucent green, and, for the sky and water, a delicate blue.

Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1985), 197.

Until 1985: Emery Reves (1904-1983) and Wendy Reves (1916-2007) (owned jointly), La Pausa, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France [1]

From 1985: Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection, gift of Wendy Reves (1916-2007) [1]

[1] According to: Olivier Meslay and Martha MacLeod, From Chanel to Reves (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 2015), 4-5.

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