Cup And Saucer Depicting Vertumnus And Pomona - China, 18th Century, Qianlong Period

Pomona is a nymph, guardian of orchards and fruit trees. She devotes all her attention to her trees and rejects all her suitors. Vertumnus is the god of the seasons and of plant growth; he falls in love with Pomona and vainly attempts to seduce her.

This god has the ability to metamorphose, and in order to accomplish his aim he transforms himself into an old woman to gain access to Pomona’s orchard. By this ruse he persuades her, with words full of wisdom and softness, of the merit of love and marriage, which touches her.

Eventually he reveals his true divine form to Pomona. She, dazzled, accepts his love. Their union symbolises the balance between constancy and care. On one side Pomona and her orchards, and change, the seasons, and growth ; on the side of Vertumnus, uniting nature, fertility and love.

For a similar design in a polychrome version on a saucer, see :

– La porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes à décor occidental, F. and N. Hervouët & Yves Bruneau, 1986, p. 309, fig. 13.67.

For a full polychrome set, whose saucer is illustrated in Hervouët, see :

– Victoria and Albert Museum, London, museum no. C.81‑1963.

For a milk‑jug with identical decoration, see :

– Santos, London, Qing Export Porcelain, 2015/2016, p. 68, fig. 71.


Provenance:
- Antoine Lebel, Paris.

Slight wear to the gilding, a tiny chip on the cup, and tiny chips on the saucer almost imperceptible, both less than a mm.

More information and photos on request.