Garden stool

Elegantly sitting on wealth

In earlier times, the Chinese elite liked to hold elegant tea parties in the garden. Of course, comfort was important. In order to be able to rest for a while after a walk through the garden, beautifully made garden chairs made of porcelain were used. These cool garden chairs were especially popular in the hot summer season.

Especially in the south of China, social gatherings often took place outdoors, such as tea or wine parties, playing weiqi (a type of chess), making music, painting or doing calligraphy. When it was necessary to impress friends, colleagues or business associates, such a gathering was held in a beautifully designed garden. Gardens were therefore a status symbol in China and differed greatly from ours: no colourful flower beds, but old, elegant trees such as pine and prunus, and bamboo. The design of such a garden follows the natural slope of the landscape and has an asymmetrical layout, with irregularly shaped rocks and various ponds. There were even competitions to choose the most beautiful garden. And of course, one had to impress guests with special garden furniture, such as this porcelain stool.

The stool is hollow and painted in famille rose enamels, which means that the enamel colour gives the painting a predominantly pinkish red colour. Unlike the green of famille verte, which has a Chinese history, the red of famille rose has a European origin. It was probably the Leiden scientist Cassius who invented pink enamel in the middle of the seventeenth century. This discovery reached China around 1720. Because of its foreign origin, it was therefore called yang cai in China, which means 'strange colours'.

Another example is the mill cup, usually made entirely of silver. This cup consists of a chalice on one side and a mill with sails on the other side. As soon as the cup is filled, you blow the mill sails into motion. Before they stop, the glass must be empty. If that does not work, a new round follows.

Garden stool with decoration of lotus, flowers and mandarin ducks, China, 1800 - 1850, porcelain, h. 47.5 cm, on loan from Ottema-Kingma Stichting.

The painting of the lotus pond with swimming mandarin ducks gives you a feeling of coolness. The entire decoration consists of a number of motifs that promise happiness and prosperity. For example, the mandarin ducks symbolize marital happiness, because these animals always stay together. The lotuses stand for continuous harmony. The openwork motif on the side and top of the stool refers to the traditional Chinese coins, which are round with a square hole in them, as an expression of the wish for wealth. Around the bottom and top runs a decorative yellow border, a 'cloud collar', which is depicted in such detail that it looks like it has been embroidered.

These garden stools are often found in Chinese paintings. They were also used as a pedestal for a flower pot, a multifunctional object. Still much more original than our plastic garden chairs!

Miniature landscapes

The Chinese garden actually represents the world in miniature. The rocks represent mountain landscapes, the pruned trees forests. Small ponds and streams refer to lakes and rivers. Through views, the visitor is repeatedly revealed a new piece of this miniature world, in which symbols and the yin-yang principle play an important role. The design of a garden said something about the taste and knowledge of Chinese traditions of the owner. Therefore, great value was attached to it. The Chinese garden acquired a Western variant from the eighteenth century onwards. In Europe, people became fascinated by these beautifully laid out miniature landscapes, and those who could afford it had a garden built in the 'Chinese style' with pavilions, bridges and parasols. However, these types of gardens had little to do with the original philosophy behind the Chinese garden tradition, but were mainly beautiful, exotic scenes that people could enjoy.

Eva Ströber, former curator Asian ceramics at Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, with thanks to Aafke Koole.