€1,000 - €2,000
A rare Chinese gilt-decorated grisaille 'Danae and Cupid' 10-piece service, Qianlong
L.: 19,8 cm - H.: 13,8 cm (the teapot)
Dia.: 12 cm - H.: 6,3 cm (the bowl)
Dia.: 11,9 cm (the saucers)
Dia.: 7,3 cm - H.: 4,2 cm (the cups)
Based on the engraving 'Danae' by the French engraver Gaspard Duchange, after the painting by Antonio Allegri da Correggio (1531). (see added images)
'The painting depicts the Greek mythological figure Danae, daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos, who is visited by Jupiter, who has been transformed into a shower of gold, which Cupid collects from among the sheets. As a result of this union, Perseus was born. On the right side of the painting, at the foot of the bed, two amoretti, holding an arrow, use a touchstone to test the endurance of love, which risks being corrupted by tact with gold. It is said that the building visible through the window is the unfurnished residence of Federico II Gonzaga at Marmirolo, near Mantua. A small landscape outside the window and the sunset, the beauty of which is enveloped in the woman's room, the tranquility of colors convey the divine light that is about to appear with the arrival of the main god and illuminate Danae. The tender body of the latter and the whiteness of the sheets indicate that the beauty will soon fly away to the heavenly spaces.'
(Source: Borghese Gallery Rome, link - images courtesy of Harvard Art Museums and The British Museum - Research by Mr. L. Loose)
Ref.: Chazen Museum of Art, USA, Accession No. 1991.348a-b, for an identical cup and saucer. (link)
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