A FINELY PAINTED FAMILLE ROSE PALETTE 'ROMANCE OF...

A FINELY PAINTED FAMILLE ROSE PALETTE 'ROMANCE OF THE WESTERN CHAMBER / XIXIANG JI' SHALLOW DISH
China, Republic / Minguo Period, 20th century
The very finely painted decor covering the whole surface of the dish and depicting a theatrical scene where a horse rider standing next to his horse gazes on a young man with his white horse standing four squares while a young beautiful lady combing her hair at a window is looking at the scene. The rim adorned with a cobalt blue wave pattern.
D: 27,4 cm

Provenance:
> Private collection;
> "Les Filles de Canton", French-Canadian Women Missionaries based in Canton, China, circa 1910-1946. All these items were displayed at the Missionaries of Notre Dame des Anges Museum in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. These Sisters also established an emergency Hospital for the Chinese community in Montreal during the influenza epidemic of 1917-18-19. Eventually this effort leads to the Chinese Hospital of Montreal.

Notes:

1. The quality of the enamel painting is exquisite and the painter should be regarded as a master. One can appreciate the details of the faces and clothes and the ability of the artist to depict the nature, whether rocks, plants or trees. Above all, the artist did use the whole surface and even the shape of the dish to depict the scene and to create a perspective.

2. The scene is likely taken from the Romance of the Western Chamber / XIXIANG JI / Ã Ã Å Ã Ë Ã©Ã Â¿Ã¿, a Yuan Dynasty dramatic work by Wang Shifu þà ïà »ªþö½.