- Title:
- Fishermen in a Gorge (one of eleven panels of Chinoiserie decoration)
- Object name(s):
- Oil painting
- Brief description:
- Oil painted panel with Chinoiserie decoration, [one of a set of 11] showing a fantastic scene of a team of men hauling a dragon boat along a rocky gorge, and two fishermen in a boat using a small net, and two men in a canoe. Overhead, a fantastic bird in the sky.
- Collection:
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Associated concept:
- Paintings
- Associated concept:
- Maritime
- Content - concept:
- fishermen (people)
- Credit line:
- Presented by Art Fund
- Current reproduction location:
- https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BM8498/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg
- Location type:
- Thumbnail
- Dimension:
- Height
- Dimension measured part:
- estimate
- Dimension measurement unit:
- in
- Dimension value:
- 85
- Dimension:
- Width
- Dimension measured part:
- estimate
- Dimension measurement unit:
- in
- Dimension value:
- 31.25
- Dimension:
- Height
- Dimension measured part:
- framed
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 221
- Dimension:
- Width
- Dimension measured part:
- framed
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 91
- Dimension:
- Depth
- Dimension measured part:
- framed
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 6
- Material:
- oil
- Material:
- tempera
- Material:
- panel
- Object history note:
- Given by the National Art Collections Fund, 1954
- Object history note:
- It is not known which house this set of panels was originally intended for, but they relate closely to a set of similar panels, which were painted in 1696 for a house at 5 Botolph Lane, in the City of London and removed to Sir John Cass's Foundation Primary School, Aldgate, London, in 1906. Very little is known about the painter Robert Robinson and not much of his work survives, apart from these two sets of panels. Robinson's work anticipates the mania for Chinoiserie in England by 30 years or more. The Botolph Lane panels are a mixture of Chinese and Peruvian scenes, whereas the set now in the Museum is mainly Chinese in inspiration. Throughout the 17th century goods from the Far East were highly fashionable. However, these painted panels are one of the earliest manifestations of chinoiserie, i.e. purely decorative fantasies by European artists, based roughly upon Far Eastern themes, as opposed to imitation of true Chinese forms such as lacquer work. In the V&A panels all kinds of whimsical grotesques are mingled with reminiscences of Chinese, Tartar, and Indian themes.
- Object name:
- Oil painting
- Object number:
- P.9-1954
- Object production date:
- ca. 1696
- Date - association:
- made
- Date - earliest / single:
- 1691-01-01
- Date - latest:
- 1700-12-31
- Object production person:
- Robinson, Robert
- Person's association:
- artist
- Object production place:
- Britain
- Place association:
- made
- Object status:
- Unique
- Physical description:
- Oil painted panel with Chinoiserie decoration, [one of a set of 11] showing a fantastic scene of a team of men hauling a dragon boat along a rocky gorge, and two fishermen in a boat using a small net, and two men in a canoe. Overhead, a fantastic bird in the sky.
- Reproduction number:
- 2007BM8498
- Reproduction number:
- 2018KV7385
- Responsible department/section:
- PDP
- Style:
- Chinoiserie
- Technique:
- painting
- Technique:
- oil and tempera on panel
- Text reason:
- Collections online record
- Text:
- Object Type
This is one of a set of 11 Chinoiserie panels (Museum nos. P.6 to 16-1954) that was acquired by the Museum in 1954. It is not known which house they were originally intended for, but they relate closely to a set of similar panels painted in 1696 for a house in Botolph Lane, London.
People
Very little is known about the painter and printmaker Robert Robinson and not much of his work survives, apart from the two sets of panels. The panels' dramatic quality may be attributable to Robinson's work as a scene painter for the theatre.
Subjects Depicted
Throughout the 17th century goods from East Asia were highly fashionable. However, these painted panels are one of the earliest manifestations of Chinoiserie. The term denotes purely decorative fantasies produced by European artists and based roughly on East Asian themes, as opposed to imitation of true Chinese forms in such techniques as lacquer work. In these panels all manner of whimsical grotesques are mingled with reminiscences of Chinese, Tartar, and Indian themes. - Text reason:
- Summary description
- User's reference:
- Reference:
- Brunel, Georges, Pagodes et Dragons: exotisme et fantaisie dans L'Europe rococo 1720-1770, Paris, Paris musées, 2007.
- Reference:
- Beevers, David (ed.) Chinese Whispers: Chinoiserie in Britain 1650-1930, Brighton: The Royal Pavilion and Museums, 2008
- User's reference:
- Reference:
- E. Croft-Murray: Decorative Painting in England, 1537-1837, i (London, 1962), pp. 46-7 E. Croft-Murray: An English Painter of Chinoiseries (Country Life Annual, 1955) pp174-179
- User's reference:
- Reference:
- Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1954 London: HMSO, 1963
Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/a45578b7-bc9c-3e2d-9a5a-8893b691d90b
Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC
Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/a45578b7-bc9c-3e2d-9a5a-8893b691d90b, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC
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