Fragment of architectural fitting, earthenware with a turquoise-blue glaze, China, 1747-70

Fragment of an architectural fitting, buff-coloured earthenware covered with a turquoise-blue glaze, moulded in relief with stylised shells and scrolls

Purchased from S. M. Franck & Co. (Mr. Wylde's Purchases in China), accessioned in 1912. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.

This architectural fitting is part of a group of objects purchased by C. H. Wylde in Korea and China in 1912. Wylde was the first Keeper of Ceramics and the first member of V&A staff to visit East Asia. In the archive file, Wylde notes the ‘six fragments of architectural decoration from the Old Summer Palace, or Yuan Ming Yuan, which is about 10 miles from Pekin’ and states that ‘these are very interesting as they are the work of craftsmen employed by the French Jesuit Missionaries who were entrusted with the work of building the palace by the emperor Khang-his (1662-1722). The fragments strongly show the influence of the style of Louis XIV’. The Yuanming Yuan was the imperial summer and was plundered and destroyed by British and French troops during the Second Opium War in 1860. This object would have been from the European-style buildings in the Yuanming Yuan. It is not clear from the file whether Wylde acquired them from the ruined site or from elsewhere.

This ceramic fragment with a turquoise-blue glaze was once part of an architectural ornament showing a band of decoration in relief. It was purchased by C. H. Wylde in China in 1912 as a fragment from the Old Summer Palace, Yuanming Yuan, Beijing. It most likely came from one of the European-style palaces in Yuanming Yuan. These buildings were designed by Italian and French Jesuits working at the Qing court. The Qianlong emperor, who ruled China from 1736 to 1795, had a great fascination for western ‘exotica’. Yuanming Yuan was destroyed by British and French troops during the Second Opium War in 1860 and all that now remains of the splendid buildings are scattered ruins and architectural fragments such as this.

C.378-1912