Master Art

Yongzheng/Qianlong
European market 
 A small famille rose plate with a central scene, possibly the Romance of the Western Chamber, with brightly coloured border panels and a lobed rim. This scene shows the hero of The Romance of the Western Chamber, Zhang Sheng, exhausted after defeating the bandits, being supported by Hong Niang, the maid to his lover Cui Yingying, while watched by Zhang’s boy attendant. It is shortly after this moment in the story that Cui Mu, the mother of Yingying changes her mind about agreeing to the marriage.