The Porcelain Statue of the Emperor Qianlong Made in France in 1775 Appeared in Jinsha, Chengdu

Release Time: 2017-10-25

    Exquisite porcelain is the invention by Chinese people; the Westerners, conquered by the beauty of the porcelain, have promoted the spread and development of the porcelain art in the Western world. But you may don’t know that the Westerners have used porcelain to make a statue of the Emperor Qianlong, and even have given it to Qianlong as a present. October 17th, "Three Centuries of Elegance: (1740-2015) France’s Severes Manufacture Special Exhibition", opened in Chengdu Jinsha Site Museum. The exhibition shows more than 100 pieces of exquisite France’s Severes porcelain over the past three hundred years in the history, including the porcelain statue of the Emperor Qianlong.

    The specifications for the porcelain statue of Qianlong are 40.5 × 14.6 × 14.2cm. The reporter observed that different from the common majestic image of Qianlong, this piece of work shows a smiling Qianlong, who looks more cordial and gentle, even a little cute. According to the organizers, this statue of the Qianlong, provided by the Severes Manufacture, is based on the watercolor portrait of Qianlong painted by Italian missionary Pan Tingzhang, who worked in the imperial palace. In the same year, the Severes Manufacture also produced a porcelain plate with the portrait of Qianlong printed on it, which was collected by Louis XVI and is now collected in the Palace of Versailles. What more interesting is that the Severes Manufacture created a porcelain statue of Qianlong according to the same portrait, and gave it to Qianlong as a present in 1781. It is reported that the exhibition will continue until December 17.