A pair of 'grisaille' plates with European motif

Description:

China, Qianlong period
D. 23 cm
Each plate is depicted in the central round field with a seated lady in a window sill framed by curtains, who is näht. Her right hand is raised with a threaded needle, while in her left hand she holds a piece of cloth with gilded fringes. A harbour scene is visible through the window behind her shoulder.
From an old German private collection, in family ownership since 1900
A related plate is illustrated in William R. Sargent (2012), Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics from the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem (p. 339, no. 181). Another example as well as a complete tea service with this decoration can be found in John Goldsmith Phillips (1956), China Trade Porcelain: An Account of its Historical Background, Manufacture and Decoration, and a Study of the Helena Woolworth McCann Collection, Cambridge, MA (p. 140, pl. 58) - One plate with small rim chips