Master Art

Qianlong period
European Market
A Chinese export porcelain dinner plate painted en grisaille and gilt with an exterior scene of a seated couple holding wineglasses aloft, the man with a gun, two dogs beside them, the rim with an elaborate border incorporating classical symbols and a scene of cupid shooting a snake with an arrow.
  This elegant scene is also known in famille rose enamels but with a simpler shell scroll border and is found on teawares also in famille rose. The grisaille version here seems to be very rare.
    The source for the design has not been identified. It seems similar to scenes by Charles-Joseph Natoire (1700–1777) a prolific French painter but this type of subject was popular in the mid-eighteenth century and similar works can be found in England too.