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Lot Essay
The technique for creating pictures on imported glass is thought to have been promoted in China by Father Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) who reached Peking in 1715 and found favor with the Imperial rulers. The process had already been used in Europe, termed verre églomisé, and Chinese artists, already expert in painting and calligraphy, took up the practice, apply the pigments in the reverse of the normal order, beginning with the highlights and ending with the background. Common designs included still lives, birds and groups of figures, usually depicted against backgrounds of rivers or pavilions and mediums included glass pictures as well as mirrors, and on the rare occasion special luxury items such as the present lot. The finished articles were widely admired in European markets, and when sent back to Europe, enduring another hazardous sea voyage, they were quickly adopted along with Chinese porcelain, wallpaper, silks, and lacquer in the most fashionable circles desirous of the exotic.
A comparable George III tea caddy set with Chinese reverse-glass painted panels was sold from the Collection of the late Lord and Lady Swaythling; Christie’s, London, 26 May 2022, lot 1097 (£50,400 including premium).
The Prescott Collection, which included this rare tea caddy, was sold at Christie's New York on 31 January 1981, and was one of the most important English furniture collections of its time. The sale consisted mostly of late 17th and 18th century English furniture ranging from rare early stumpwork pieces, hangings and other small objects, to some exquisite pieces of Georgian walnut and mahogany furniture, including a George I burr-walnut bureau-bookcase, and a George I walnut and oak dressing-table, both of which were previously in the Percival Griffiths Collection.
A comparable George III tea caddy set with Chinese reverse-glass painted panels was sold from the Collection of the late Lord and Lady Swaythling; Christie’s, London, 26 May 2022, lot 1097 (£50,400 including premium).
The Prescott Collection, which included this rare tea caddy, was sold at Christie's New York on 31 January 1981, and was one of the most important English furniture collections of its time. The sale consisted mostly of late 17th and 18th century English furniture ranging from rare early stumpwork pieces, hangings and other small objects, to some exquisite pieces of Georgian walnut and mahogany furniture, including a George I burr-walnut bureau-bookcase, and a George I walnut and oak dressing-table, both of which were previously in the Percival Griffiths Collection.