A RARE EUROPEAN-SUBJET 'CARTOUCHES' SOUP PLATE Qianlong period, circa 1770 Painted in famille rose enamels with a central scene that extends to the well, depicting a large stone 'rocaille' cartouche atop which sits a crying putto resting his left elbow on a severed head, a maple tree and other bushes form a backdrop and before this scene on a fenced terrace an elegant gentleman doffs his tricorn hat and bows to a sumptuously and colorfully dressed lady with large ruff sleeves, holding a kerchief and walking away from the bowed figure, the everted rim painted with scattered loose flower sprays, the reverse plain. 9in (23 cm) diam Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1770年 粉彩歐式《捲框》湯盤 Published Cohen & Cohen, Baroque & Roll, Antwerp, 2015, pp. 100-101, no. 63 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Baroque & Roll》，安特衛普，2015年，頁100-101，圖版編號63 The image is from a series of four prints Cartouches Modernes avec des Differentes Figures by Augsburg printmaker Johann Esaias Nilson (1721-88). (fig. 1) Another from the 'Cartouches' series is also known on export porcelain and one other from a different series 'Times of the Day'. They all share similar border designs. Nilson, sometimes referred to as the 'German Watteau', was a significant figure in the art of the rococo and a prolific artist and publisher of series of finely drawn prints. In 1761 he was appointed court painter to Prince Carl Theodor von der Pfalz und Bayern, and from 1769-88 was Director of the Augsburg Academy of Art. References: Hervouët & Bruneau, 1986, p. 155, no. 7.38, a soup plate with this design and p. 144, no. 7.9, the drinkers plate. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ¤ ¤ Without reserve