Chinese Famille Rose Porcelain Chocolate Pot Qianlong

A Chinese early Qianlong period (1735-1796) Famille Rose chocolate pot with cover depicting a scene from the ‘Romance of the Western Chamber’, 18th century, around 1740, Jingdezhen, China. 
Famille rose 

Dimensions: 16cm. Height.

This expectational porcelain pot was made for the use of serving hot chocolate for the European market, which became popular in Europe from the 17th century. The design of the pot with its tapering shape, C-shaped handle and spout was inspired by similar European silver objects. The decoration of the piece is in Famille Rose style that emerged during the previous Yongzheng period (1723-1735). On the body of the chocolate pot, a scene from the Chinese novel ‘Romance of the Western Chamber’ (西厢记) is shown. The scene called ‘Repudiation of the Billet-Doux’ is about the young scholar Zhang and miss Cui Yingying who fell in love. After sending love letters to each other it seemed that Yingying rejected Zhang, however she hinted for a reunion at night. Zhang could not resist and decided to climb over a garden wall to see her. This story is stunningly shown on the coffee pot with fine details. Note the rare usage of the color white for the garden wall. The coffee pot has a matching cover. Due to the fine quality of the object and its decoration it can be dated as an early Qianlong piece. 

Condition: professional restored hairline of 3,5 centimeter.
Provenance: 
-W. WaddingHam Antiques, Harrogate, N.o. 51. 
-Marchant Asian Art, London, R9620. 
-Christie’s 18 January 2018, Live auction 15336 ‘Chinese Export Art Featuring 100 Lots From Marchant’, lot 162/6. 
-Dutch private collection.