Bandeja, Compañía de las Indias, Quianlong

Tray, Compañía de las Indias, Quianlog period, 18th century.
Enamelled porcelain.
Good condition but it is damaged.
Firing marks.
Measurements: 33 x 24.5 cm.
This Chinese-made tray has a background decorated with a completely European scene, featuring two dogs resting next to a river landscape. Despite its Chinese origin, it is a piece made for the European trade, controlled by the East India Company. Once trade was organised on a regular basis, the East India Companies, which managed trade between European countries and the colonies under their domination, supplied Chinese artists with European models, both for forms and decoration.
The Qianlong Emperor, a member of the Qing dynasty, ruled China between 1736 and 1795, and is remembered to this day as one of the most cultured emperors and one of the most important in terms of art collecting. His long reign was a particularly interesting moment in Chinese history. At that time, the country was the richest and most populous nation in the world. Qianlong was able to preserve and foster his own Manchu warrior and hunter traditions, and combine them with the adoption of Confucian principles of political and cultural leadership, thus achieving an effective and stable government. Indeed, it was his ability to adopt Chinese customs while honouring his Manchu tradition that made him one of the most successful emperors of the Qing dynasty. Qianlong studied Chinese painting, and especially enjoyed the art of calligraphy, highly regarded in this culture, indeed conceived as the highest of the arts.