Hand-Painted Chinoiserie
Shaun Castle 10 July 2006
This picture shows hand-painted chinoiserie hung at Marble House as part of the refurbishment by English Heritage. The brilliantly coloured exotic birds, tiny insects, plants and rich pink and blue flowers against white trees and a cream background took Chinese artists 1,000 hours to create. The paper was designed and painted by the English company de Gournay. It’s made of small pieces of mulberry paper, which are pressed together, then backed with silk, hand-painted, and then glued and stretched on to canvas-covered batons.
The paper is as close as possible to that which Henrietta Howard would have had in her salon at Marble House, the 18th century home of the countess, and mistress to the young George II.
Chinoiserie, an aspect of Rococco, was popular throughout the 17th century, being originally imported by the East India Company from China, but declined in general favour after 1765.
www.degournay.com
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