Figure of a court dignitary or official
karta katalogowa kolekcji
Rzemiosło artystyczne
China, Canton
18th or 19th century
Polychrome clay
65 x 39 x 28 cm
Wil.3020
This likeness of a Chinese dignitary is made out of unburned clay and colourful polychrome. Figurines portraying European merchants and sailors were also made in Canton, which in the eighteenth century was the chief Chinese trade port. “Puppets” showing Chinese officials, courtiers or the military were brought over by European collectors particularly interested in the culture and customs of the Far East. In such collections similar items were treated not only as extremely unusual curios enhancing the given collection or decorating rooms designed in the Chinese fashion, but also as a source of knowledge about costumes obligatory among the hierarchy of Chinese officials and dignitaries. Often, the figures were outfitted with miniatures of genuine accessories - pipes, hats, tobacco pouches, money sacks and fans. Upon occasions, they were dressed in silk costumes and outfitted with wigs and facial hair.
The Wilanów collections include a set of more than ten such figures, which during the nineteenth century were displayed in the Chinese Apartment. The extant accessories – bags and sacks – could have belonged to them.
Anna Ekielska-Mardal
Polecane
![pokoje_chinskie.jpg](https://www.wilanow-palac.pl/image.php/10323_article_list/pokoje_chinskie.jpg)
Renovated Chinese and Hunter's Rooms
Visitors to the Wilanów Palace can admire newly renovated Chinese and Hunter’s Rooms. The 19th-c. rooms, located in the right wing of the Palace, underwent conservation and restoration works, as part of a 3-year-long project entitled ‘Restoring the interiors of the Wilanów Palace Museum – the very first museum of fine arts in Poland’.
![figurka_liu_hai.JPG](https://www.wilanow-palac.pl/image.php/17384_article_list/figurka_liu_hai.jpg)
Figurine of Liu Hai
Lui Hai – the Taoist god of welfare and good fortune – is up to this day regarded as an …
![44_szafka martina schnella.jpg](https://www.wilanow-palac.pl/image.php/1564_article_list/44_szafka_martina_schnella.jpg)
Fashion for Chinoiserie at Wilanów Palace
From the end of the seventeenth century Europe witnessed a growing fashion for Chinoiserie. Traces of this mode are to …