197.
A ‘FAMILLE VERTE’ ENAMELED BISCUIT MODEL OF A SAMPAN
Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, late 17th–early 18th century
7,8 x 9,5 cm
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 4048.
The subject of a fishing boat or a sampan features prominently in a wide range of mediums from paintings to works of art and porcelain, often alongside river and lakeside vistas, invoking the idyllic nature retreat the literati would aspire to retire to. Fishermen also represent one of the ‘Four Noble Occupations’ comprising the Chinese four-layered traditional society (also including the woodcutter, farmer and scholar).
A very similar model of a boat is in the collection of Marie Vergottis (J. Ayers, La collection de porcelains chinoises de Marie Vergottis, Lausanne 2004, p. 101, n. 97); see also the comparable example in the Princesshof Museum, Leeuwarden (inv. NO 00990).
