Chinese boat model c.1800
Ivory, silk and other materials | 63 x 99 x 44.5 cm (including case, cover, etc) | RCIN 4302
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A Chinese riverboat with an elaborate superstructure, the hull faced with long strips of ivory. Projecting underneath, a pair of black metal wheels near the stern, and a single wheel towards the prow. Within the high main chamber on deck, its walls, windows and doorways pierced with latticework, a table with a bowl of fruit and four covered jars, and a hanging floral scroll flanked by a pair of calligraphies; a figure sitting playing a qin, and a man and a woman at a table laden with food, below a suspended lantern. Towards the stern, in a room with a barrel roof, two figures pulling at an oar with metal wires sliding in a long slot; and protruding below, a rectangular rudder. On the upper deck, a central part of which is an open-sided structure with a high pointed roof, standing and seated figures, and a number of potted plants. Also in the stern, on long poles, a patterned silk flag and two lanterns, pierced and gilt. Round the sides of the boat, eight sailors with fending poles; all the figures, apparently made of clay, painted in colours. The boat resting on an old silk-covered board, set on a later rectangular, wooden base.
Text adapted from Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen: Volume III.
Provenance
Acquired by George IV. John Crace’s list of ‘Money expended by order of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales’ dated June 7 1803 includes ‘One China Junk in Ivory and Glass Stand -- £8.8.0 which may well be this. Along with RCIN 3230, possibly one of the ‘two small ditto [ivory ships]’ sent from the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, to Kensington Palace in June 1848 (1829A, p. 56).
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Creator(s)
(place of production)(nationality)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Ivory, silk and other materials
Measurements
63 x 99 x 44.5 cm (including case, cover, etc)
Place of Production
China