A LARGE AND RARE FAMILLE ROSE 'DON QUIXOTE' OVAL DISH Qianlong period, circa 1745 the center of the dish and well, painted with an oval roundel depicting Don Quixote on horseback (Rosinante) led by his squire, Sancho Panza and watched surreptitiously by two ladies hiding behind a tree, all set in a rocky landscape, the everted rim painted with four equally spaced grisaille and gilt landscape and bird cartouches, the reverse plain, the base unglazed. 15 2/2in (39cm) across Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1745-50年 粉彩《堂吉訶德》大盤 Published: Cohen & Cohen, Think Pink!, Antwerp, 2013, pp. 72-73, no. 49 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Think Pink!》，安特衛普，2013年，頁72-73，圖版編號49 This relatively rare dish depicts the moment Don Quixote places a barber's bowl mistaken as the 'Helmet of Mambrino' on his head, after an image by Charles-Antoine Coypel (1694-1752) originally for the Gobelins tapestry factory, and later engraved by Jacob Folkema (1692-1767) or Gerard van der Gucht (1696-1776). For a lengthy discussion of the subject see the footnote to Lot 134 in this sale. The depiction on this dish, however, omits the fleeing barber and his donkey, visible in the later version. The story is popular and emblematic of all that Quixote represents. Don Quixote is a hero for any age but especially for ours. He has a huge imagination nurtured by reading many books and his innocence and excitement at the prospect of adventure appears as madness to the 'gray' people around him. He has his own code: an ancient one of morality and honor, the code of Chivalry, and he sets out bravely to rectify the wrongs he encounters. Book One of the novels by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) was published in 1605, written in prison to pay off his debts. Cervantes had a colorful life: as a young man he was servant to a Spanish Cardinal in Rome. He later enlisted with the Spanish Militia and was wounded in the Battle of Lepanto against the Turks. He then went to sea but was captured by Barbary pirates and spent five years as a slave. Ransomed by his family, he returned to Madrid where he acted as a Commissary for the Armada in 1587. Later a tax Collector position took him to Seville. However, he never matched the success of his first book and sadly died penniless on 23 April 1616, coincidentally on the same day that Shakespeare died. For another similar dish, just slightly smaller in size, see Christie's New York, 24 October 2022, The Anne and Gordon Getty Collection, lot 961. References: Howard & Ayers 1978, p. 345, no. 342, a dinner plate; Lloyd Hyde 1964, plate XV, p. 15; Buerdeley 1962, Cat 33; Williamson 1970, pl XXIV, a teapot with the five-figure version.