The Macartney Embassy: Gifts Exchanged between George III and the Qianlong Emperor
An eighteenth century diplomatic mission yielded exquisite gifts
Frogmore House: The Green Closet
circa 1819RCIN 922123
This watercolour depicts the Green Closet at Frogmore House and was prepared for one of the plates in William Henry Pyne’s History of the Royal Residences (1816–19). In the course of his visit to Frogmore in 1797, Joseph Farington noted ‘some presents from the Emperor of China’. In the bottom left corner is depicted a cabinet and number of other red lacquer objects.