A RARE FAMILLE ROSE 'EUROPEAN SUBJECT' PLATE AFTER ALBANI'S 'EARTH' Qianlong period, circa 1750 Decorated in bright opaque enamels with a European mythological scene after Albani's 'Earth', the center of the dish painted with three female and one male figure, robed and un-robed, riding a chariot pulled by lions with six putti dispersed before them, with a large leafy tree to one side and a river landscape behind, the rim with a gilt scrolling foliate border. 9in (23cm) diam Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1750年 粉彩繪阿爾巴尼之《大地》圖盤 Published: Cohen & Cohen, Take Two!, Antwerp, 2017, pp. 146-147, no. 60 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Take Two!》，安特衛普，2017年，頁146-147，圖版編號60 The scene depicts 'Earth' from a print source after the painting by Francisco Albani (1578–16 60), one of a series of the four elements painted between 1625-1628 for the Cardinal of Savoy, later King of Sardinia, which are now in the Galleria Sabauda, Turin. Cybele is seated in her chariot surrounded by personifications of the three seasons: Flora as Spring, Ceres as Summer, and Bacchus as Autumn. Harsh 'Winter' was absent as Albani intended to flatter the Cardinal's sunny disposition. All four designs are known on Chinese plates and tea wares. There appear to be two orders of the plates, one with the blue border (see lot 127 in this sale) and the other with a gilt foliage rim as in this example. There are also differences in the placement of the composition within the circle, suggesting a different workshop or centered painters for each order. Series of these paintings were engraved by many different artists. The series was issued by Jacques Chereau, Nicolas de Larmessin IV, or Nicoloas Dauphin de Beauvais, any could have been taken to China but Chereau seems the most likely source. (fig. 1) Other prints by Chereau and Larmessin are known on export porcelain. For another plate (Fire) from the 'elements' series, also with a gilt-decorated rim, see Christie's, 16 January 2019, lot 547. For two very similar 'Earth' plates with blue borders, rather than the gilt borders of this example, see Christie's New York, 20 January 2016, lot 70, from the Miller Collection; and 17 January 2018, lot 79, from the sale of export art from the Marchant Firm, established in 1925. References: Mezin 2002, nos. 67-70, 86-9, four plates with each of the scenes and illustration of a set of engravings by Nicolas IV de Larmessin; Williamson 1970, plate XXXIX, four plates including 'Earth' with gilt rim border and plate XXIV, a teapot with this design; Howard, 1994, 111; Beurdeley, 1962, 179; Hervouët & Bruneau 1986, 318-9; Jörg 1989, 174-5; Le Corbeiller 1974, 64-5; Sargent 2012, 29; Palmer 1976, 71; Howard & Ayers 1978, 323; Gordon 1984, no. 46; Puglisi 1999, 144, cat. 60, the series and note of two further engravers; Scheurleer 1974, no. 232; Pinto de Matos 2011 Vol 2 no. 320, 228, a plate and illustration of the de Beauvais print version; Cohen & Cohen 2016, no. 53, a plate with the same design and a blue enamel rim; Cunha Alves 2016, no. 76, 134, a tea bowl and saucer with this design. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ¤ ¤ Without reserve