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Figure of a European Merchant

Amoy Chinqua Chinese
1719
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 510
The figure is notable for the very high quality of the modeling of the face and wig, for the richly detailed costume, and especially for the impression it conveys of a specific individual. This is not a generic portrait of a European but rather a detailed likeness of a foreign merchant working in China, observed first hand. His affluence and status are conveyed by the fashionable clothes he wears, most specifically by the waistcoat painted to look like silk interwoven with gold metallic threads.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Figure of a European Merchant
  • Artist: Amoy Chinqua
  • Date: 1719
  • Culture: Chinese, Canton
  • Medium: Polychrome unfired clay and wood
  • Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 12 15/16 × 5 9/16 × 5 3/8 in. (32.9 × 14.1 × 13.7 cm); Height of figure only: 11 9/16 in. (29.4 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics-Pottery
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest and several members of The Chairman's Council Gifts, 2014
  • Object Number: 2014.569
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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