Plate 35. Oblong Landskip with Borders
Unknown Artist
Plate 35 of 'A New Book of Chinese Designs', consisting of a title page, index, and 120 plates, etched and published in 1754 by the British caricaturist, printseller and ornamental engraver Matthew Darly, in collaboration with George Edwards. The book consists of a variety of ornamental and costume designs of Chinese inspiration, some of them copies of the original works (including the title).
This plate represents a landscape with a Chinese building on an island in the center, with trees and plants around it, ships sailing on the water, and mountains in the background. In the foreground, on the right corner, a Chinese man stands on the shore, under a bamboo (?) tree, holding a fishing net (?) in his hands. Flanking the upper border of the landscape is a border with a platform on which is reclined, in profile, a Chinese man, holding a staff on his right hand, looking towards a bundle of scrolling leaves on the left. Behind him is a basket with a bundle of stylized flowers and leaves, its long handle interlaced with a ribbon. On the right, two birds are perched on a small architectural structure.
Two additional designs for borders are pictured at the sides of the landscape: both consist of scrolling leaves and semi-abstract patterns with flowers. A final design for a border is underneath the landscape, consisting of a cartouche with a scene of a fisherman in a boat, with pieces of land with trees at his sides, framed by scrolling motifs.
Credit: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1931