DavidsSamlingGennem24År

22/1910 Tray Canton 1739-40 Enamel on copper. H.3.8, L:74, W:46

2 2 /1 9 7 0 B a k k e C a n to n 1 7 3 9 -4 0 E m a lje p å k o b b e r . H :3 ,8 , L :7 4 , B :4 6

On New Year’s Day 1739, supercargo Hans Christian Olgod had been to a party given by Frederik Holmsted and in the course of this had observed the somewhat involved ramifications of his family. Holmsted was a rich man and moreover co-founder and managing director of the Royal Danish Asiatic Company, which had been set up in 1732. The follow­ ing day-2ndJanuary 1739-Olgod sailed away on the good ship “Sleswig” and late that summer arrived at Canton, where he ordered this tray as a gift for his managing director. It was handed over in the summer of 1740. Holmsted’s daughter Mette married a prosperous merchant named Christen Lintrup (who was later raised to the peerage as Lindencrone) and the tray has passed down through the family until the present day. Lintrup had himselfearned hisfortune by trade with China, and apart from this tray the David Collection also possesses a Canton enamel mirror, a couple of mirrors decorated with glass-painting and a number of items from his din­ ner service, all executed in China ca. 1740 and simi­ larly handed down from generation to generation. One may assume that the rather primitive composi­ tion on the front of the tray was conceived by Olgod himself and thereafter precisely copied by the Chinese painters; this certainly applies to the inscriptions, whereas the elegantflowering branch on the back is pure Chinese.

N y tå r s d a g 1739 h a v d e s u p e r c a r g o H a n s C h r is tia n Ø l g o d v æ re t til se lsk a b h o s F r e d e rik H o lm s te d o g h a v d e v e d d e n le jlig h e d n o te r e t sig h a n s n o g e t in d v ik le d e fa m ilie fo rh o ld . H o lm s te d v a r e n v e lh a v e n d e m a n d o g d e r u d ­ o v e r m e d s tif te r a f o g d ir e k tø r fo r d e t i 1732 o p r e t­ te d e K o n g e lig e D a n s k e A s ia tis k e C o m p a g n ie . D a g e n e fte r - 2 /1 -1 7 3 9 - d r o g Ø lg o d a fste d p å d e t g o d e sk ib S le sw ig o g a n k o m u d p å s o m m e r e n til C a n to n , h v o r h a n b e s tilte m u s e e ts b a k k e s o m g a v e til sin d ir e k tø r - d e n o v e rra k te s s o m m e r e n 1740. H o lm s te d s d a tte r M e tte g ifte d e sig m e d s to r ­ k ø b m a n d e n C h r is te n L in tr u p - s id e n a d le t L in - d e n c r o n e - o g i d e re s fa m ilie e r b a k k e n n e d a r v e t in d til v o r e d a g e . L in tr u p h a v d e se lv tje n t sin f o r ­ m u e p å K in a - h a n d e le n , o g i D a v id s S a m lin g b e ­ fin d e r d e r sig f o r u d e n b a k k e n e t sp e jl a f C a n to n e - m a lje , e t p a r sp e jle m e d g la s m a le ri s a m t d e le a f h a n s s p ise ste l - a lt u d f ø r t i K in a o m k r in g 1740 o g lig e le d e s n e d a r v e t i fa m ilie n . M a n m å g å u d fra, a t d e n lid t p r im itiv e k o m p o ­ s itio n p å b a k k e n s fo rs id e e r k o n c ip e r e t a f Ø lg o d se lv o g d e r e f te r n ø je e f te r g jo r t a f d e k in e s is k e m a ­ le re ; d e tte g æ ld e r i a lt fa ld in d s k r if te rn e , m e n s d e n e le g a n te b lo m s te r g r e n p å b a g s id e n e r r e n t k in e ­ sisk .

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