A superb and high quality Chinese export porcelain plate from the Qianlong period, circa 1740-1745, decorated in delicate black line style known as en grisaille or encre de Chine, with rouge de fer enamel and gilding, taken from a series of European subject scenes popular in the 18th century. The central roundel depicts a young shepherdess in a straw hat, resting against a tree trunk while holding a lamb at her side. A band of rouge de fer enamel and gilt spearheads encircles the cavetto and a scrolling gilt Meissen-style lacework border decorates the wide rim. This pastoral scene exhibits the skill with which Chinese artisans reproduced the effect of European engravings, and great care is shown in its details, from the fine cross-hatching to the subtle skin tone shading, and the use of two shades of gilding on her earring.

The "Shepherdess" pattern is known as one of the "gallant and idyllic" group of scenes copied onto porcelain from European prints sent to China by Western clients (some other groups included portraiture, armorial, mythological, and religious engravings). The idyllic scenes conveyed a romantic view of nature, domestic scenes, and solitary repose. In a classic example of design influences exchanged in the China Trade, the design on this plate was likely copied by the Chinese directly from porcelain produced by the Meissen factory in Germany, and was destined for the Dutch market.

It measures 9" (22.8 cm) across and is in excellent condition, with 2 very tiny glaze frits and a 1.5 cm glaze-only hairline to back of rim, and small nick to the footrim as shown. These are minor but are mentioned for accuracy.

This plate is shown in the last photograph pictured in the J. Louis Binder Collection of Chinese Export Art sale, Christies, London, June 2003, together with a famille rose Meissen-style plate of "the Shepherdess." The famille rose version shown is similar to one shown in Hervouet and Bruneau's La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes a Decor Occidental, Paris, 1986, in which the authors suggest that an engraving entitled Autumn by Claude Duflos, based upon a pastel by Rosalba Carriera, might be the inspiration for this design. An identical plate from the Mottahedeh Collection is illustrated by Howard and Ayers in China for the West, London and New York, 1978, vol.II, no. 532, and suggest that a Meissen porcelain saucer painted in Augustburg by Hausmaler must have been the original, which would have been directly copied by the Chinese painters.

Provenance: From the collection of Angelo Castelo Branco Cerqueira Caldas; Sotheby's London 1990; J. Louis Binder Collection; Christies, London, 2003; Private Collection; Vermeer & Griggs Asian Art.

Reference: See Chinese Export Porcelain, Chine de Commande from the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels, page 132-133; see also China to Order, Daniel Nadler, page 64, plate 39; and The Mildred R. and Rafi Y. Mottahedeh Collection, Sotheby's, New York, 2000, page 96 lot 214.