New Research
The Judgement of Paris
This is one of the most popular European mythological subjects painted on Chinese export porcelain in the eighteenth century and was much repoduced over about fifteen years from 17451760, mainly in famille rose but also in monochrome puce enamel and en grisaille. It is known on a wide range of shapes, including bowls, winecoolers and teawares, as well as plates and chargers. Two different compositions of this subject are recorded: A. The most common, with Cupid seated on the far right on the ground (H&B Nos 3.71-5) B. A less common version, known en grisaille, as smaller images in the centre of plates. This has Cupid standing between Paris and Venus, with a number of other differences. The subject shows the contest that started the Trojan War, when Paris is tasked with selecting the most beautiful of three goddesses and awarding her one of the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. Each offers him a reward and the young man selects Venus, who has promised the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, incoveniently married to the Greek King Menelaus. Her seduction and abduction leads to the launching of a thousand ships and the lengthy Trojan War. Not only was this a popular subject for any gentleman educated in the Classics but it also proved a suitable excuse for variations of artistic compositions that would appeal to the male gaze. It was painted many times from the sixteenth century onwards and this particular layout is known in countless variations. Consequently the precise print source for this design had been attributed to many different artists and it had even had been suggested that it was a composite image taken from more than one source, created for the porcelain. However the design source for A has now been established though B remains to be definitively attributed. Design Source: A. This is after a mezzotint (circa 1720-40) by John Simon (circa 1675-1751), which would appear to be the direct source - it is of the correct orientation and has all the elements in the right positon. It is inscribed ‘J. Simon inv. fec. & ex.’ The BM copy has a pencil note that it is copied after a painting by Henri Gascar (1635-1701) but no trace of a work by Gascar of this subject has been found. Simon was a Huguenot engraver, born in Paris who moved to England at the beginning of the eighteenth century, working as a rival to John Smith and producing copies of portraits and classical subjects after a range of artists including Rubens, Watteau, Nicolas Larmessin and Rosalba Carriera. Gascar (also Gascars or Gascard) was a French painter, mainly a portraitist, who worked in England under the patronage of Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, (Charles II’s mistress). He had been in Rome in 1659-67 and moved to London in 1674 where he was influenced by Sir Peter Lely. He returned to Paris in 1680, later travelling to Italy and Poland before settling in Rome where he died. B. The source for this version has not yet been found. The arrangement of the figures is closest to a painting by Alessandro Turchi (1578-1649) but no engraving of it has been found - the order of the figures is the same and only Juno is in a different pose. References: Hervouët & Bruneau 1986, Nos 3.71-6; Chaloner Smith, John (1883) British Mezzotinto portraits etc. 4 vols, London, p177 the John Simon print.
A
Chinese famille rose dinner plate, circa 1745-50 (image courtesy Nicolas Fournery)
print circa 1730-40 by John Simon, possibly after a painting by Henri Gascar (British Museum, No 1877,1013.1034)
Alessandro Turchi (1578-1649)
B 203