CHINESE SCHOOL, POSSIBLY FOEIQUA (Early 19th Century,), Fine Chinese Export portrait of George

拍品描述

CHINESE SCHOOL, POSSIBLY FOEIQUA Early 19th Century Fine Chinese Export portrait of George Washington after Gilbert Stuart, circa 1805. Oil on canvas, 30" x 22". Framed 36" x 28". The Estate of Dr. William E. Strole, Jr. of Boston. Other similar examples include one in the collection of the Peabody-Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, one illustrated in Paintings of the China Trade: the Sze Yuan Tang Collection of Historic Paintings by Patrick Conner (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Maritime Museum, 2013), p. 124, #109, and one offered at Christie's, London, China Trade Paintings: Selections from the Kelton Collection, November 7, 2019, Lot #17. Notes: This work is after the well-known "Athenaeum Portrait" of George Washington by leading American portraitist Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828). Stuart's unfinished work, produced during the President's 1796 sitting for the artist, is now jointly owned by the National Portrait Gallery and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In 1802, John Sword of Philadelphia, captain of the ship Connecticut, brought back from Canton a group of reverse painting on glass portraits of George Washington. When Stuart heard of Sword's venture he acted to sue Sword for copyright infringement, as the artist had sold Sword a portrait of Washington under the terms that "no copies thereof should be taken". The court ordered an injunction against Sword, but the portraits had already been sold prior to the ruling. With the growth of the New Republic grew the demand for patriotic-themed decorative arts, and "Washingtonia" appeared in numerous ways throughout Chinese Export decorative arts. His likeness was reproduced in several variations of reverse paintings on glass, including "The Apotheosis of Washington" and "George Washington Sacred to Patriotism", and several porcelain cider jugs bear grisaille portrait medallions of the first President. Edward Carrington (1775-1843) served as supercargo and resided in Canton from 1802 to 1810, eventually appointed U.S. consul. He amassed a huge fortune in the China Trade and his house still stands today in Providence. His China Journal B (1804-1806) notes in addition to the ten portraits of Washington he purchased, he also got six paintings of the "Apotheosis of Washington". The subject of George Washington paintings appears in "Early Oriental Commerce in Providence", a paper by William B. Weeden published in the 1907 Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, #41. "The sound of Chinese names as rendered in English only deceives us, for we have 'Young Spilum' setting forth twelve monthly seasons on glass for $50. Portraits on glass of General Washington were a favorite subject. China Street gave place for these articles of luxury.".

图片