Ref: Q399
£ 900
Price is subject to availability and market conditions.
Chinese famille-rose 'Sailor's Farewell and Return' punch bowl, Qianlong (1736-95), the 'farewell' with a sailor and his wife embracing as he gestures to a merchantman flying the British flag, the 'return' with the same sailor returning, tipping coins into his wife's apron; the two scenes with floral sprays between, the interior with further sprays, the rim with a spearheaded border
Notes:
The Union Jack signifies that this bowl was probably made for the British market. For more information see David S. Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader, (London, 1994), pl. 232, p. 200.
See also David Howard, 'China for the West' (vol.I) p.195 for a similar bowl, though with a Dutch ship.
An eighteenth century song sheet in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (S.422-2014) takes the sailor's farewell as its theme:
'Farewell! Mary, I must leave thee,
The anchor's weighed - I must aboard,
Do not let my absence grieve thee,
Of sorrow do not breathe a word:
What though the foaming ocean sever
Me from thee, yet still my heart
Loves you, Mary, and will ever,
Though stern duty bids us part.'
