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Antique Regency shaped with Chinoiserie depictions in
Penwork Circa 1820
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The front is decorated with bold stylised flowers and leaves. This style of decoration, which incorporates small motifs within the main element was influenced by Elizabethan embroidery, namely “black work”. This style of embroidery was introduced by the first wife of Henry IIIV, the Spanish Catherine and it entailed stylised flowers, embroidered with black thread and using “stitches” to fill in empty areas. The actual designs on the box are redolent of many cultures and are found on Indian textiles as well as far Eastern works of art.
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The back of the box features the same design with slight variations as one would expect from a hand decorated box. The space between the main lower part and the lid, is decorated all around with a continuous motif which is very much in the Oriental taste with its spikey symmetrical peaks.
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One side. This is typical Chinoiserie decoration. Oriental figures, as conceived by the English mind, after hearing and reading about the wonderful Cathay, the Eastern lands where people desport themselves in fantastical gardens wearing floating robes and fancy hats and carrying beautiful pots, umbrellas and other strange objects. The huge flowers, the slender palm tree the diaper pattern to denote the fence, the wispy grasses, are all within
Chinoiserie convention.
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| The other side with near-identical decoration.
Such elements were copied, re-interpreted and disseminated by books and magazines such a Stalker and Parker’s Treatise, The Lady’s Amusement and other publications. One thing was clear: perspective as understood in Europe was different from the way it was understood in
Cathay. Chinoiserie enthusiasts embraced this topsy-turvy world where they could unleash their creative imagination after the years of neoclassical constrains.
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The top showing the main picture framed by roses. These roses have little dots and the leaves have fine lines, but on the whole they are painted in a more naturalistic manner than the larger flowers at the front.
There are two groups of people on the top.
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On the right there are two ladies drinking tea. The one under the palm tree appears to be European with her long nose and hairstyle. The other, with the pointy hat and confused style of dress (circular embroidery on tunic), double-layered dress, suggests an oriental. Both look as if they are wearing Indian fabrics, but then this is consistent with
Chinoiserie confusion. The pot is neither Chinese nor European in shape, so perhaps they are drinking something else? Or is it just decoration? European figures are rare in Chinoiserie decoration, as Europeans, especially women, were not understood to socialise with Chinese women. The two figures are sitting under an arch, suggestive of a pavilion, such as were built in Chinese gardens. The structure is decorated with climbing vines and a weary palm tree rests its huge leaves on one corner. This tree with a huge top at the end of a spindly trunk which looks like a stem is typical of the genre. The rules of gravity do not apply to
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On the left two young boys are bringing refreshments. They are shaded by a beautifully serrated palm. A large butterfly and two exotic birds complete the scene of exotic idyll. The whole composition is beautifully orchestrated with the large trees and pavilion creating a strong framework for the livelier human activity.
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The interior tray of the box came to us stripped and stained. There was no sign of the original paper. We decided to line the box and tray with paper which was copied from a box of the same period and looked correct for this box. We used cotton velvet for the tops.
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The interior tray of the box came to us stripped and stained. There was no sign of the original paper. We decided to line the box and tray with paper which was copied from a box of the same period and looked correct for this box. We used cotton velvet for the tops.
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Detail showing the fine lines and patterns which shade the flowers.
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Detail showing the two small figures on the left on the side of the box. It looks as if the little boy is trying to demonstrate something. The huge daisy dwarfs the figures.
Detail of the figures on the right, under a tiny palm with a huge pot!
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Detail showing a lot of the “stitches”, diaper patterns, lines, flowers inside flowers, leaves within leaves. |
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The other side, again with a tree that is not of this earth, but of the magic land of Cathay. |
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The underside showing the facings.
and the embossed brass paw feet.
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All text and images and linked images are ©
1999-2014 Antigone Clarke and Joseph O'Kelly. If you require any further
information on permitted use, or a licence to republish any material, email us
at copyright@hygra.com
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