A Chinese Export European Spoon Tray, Circa 1765 The tray depicts Orpheus playing his lyre, looking behind him and thus losing Eurydice forever. He is loosely covered by a flowing red robe. He grieved so at her death that the gods took pity on him and told him to lead her out of Hades- if he did so without looking back to check on her, they would be reunited. At the final steps, Orpheus turned around and she faded away. Dimensions: 5 x 3.5 inches Reference: Howard, David and John Ayers. China for the West: Chinese Porcelain & Other Decorative Arts for Export illustrated from the Mottahedeh Collection. Sotheby Parke Bernet Publications, Great Britain. 1978. pp.337 for example of subject, thought to have originated from a Dutch-decorated porcelain piece sent as a pattern: “...decorated with a naïve drawing en grisalle of Orpheus playing his lyre, seated on what appears to be a vaulting horse with a bushy tree toppling over one end. Clearly the Chinese painter had no idea what this background was… The irregular ‘vaulting horse’ may originally have been a dark cloud.” Hervouet, Francois and Nicole, Yves Bruneau. La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes: A Decor Occidental. Flammarion, Paris, France. p. 296, plate 13.20 for illustration of Orpheus, done c. 1745. Dimensions: 5 x 3.5 inches

Antique Porcelain & Pottery
Antique Platters & Trays