A HIGHLY REFINED CHINESE CANTONESE IVORY OPENWORK BASKET WITH LID

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China/Canton, circa 1810

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Both the lid and the basket decorated with six panels with openwork depictions of figures in garden landscapes, on top of the lid a carved quail finial, the inside of the bottom with the initials W:C:W:S:v.B:.

H. 16 x W. 19 x D. 11.5 cm

Note:

These are the initials of Wouter Carel Willem Senn van Basel (The Hague 1781-Velp 1856), son of Willem Adriaan Senn van Basel (Batavia 1755-Batavia 1817) and Anna Maria Hooreman (Negapatnam 1751-Batavia 1788). Willem married Anna Maria Hooreman in 1772, after her death in 1788, he married Ida Adriane Helena Wiese (1759-1791) in 1779 and after her death, he married in 1796 Theodora Jacoba van Riemsdijk (1775-1815).

His son Wouter was born in The Hague and never left The Netherlands. In 1814 he married Anna Margaretha Matthes (1785-1837) in Utrecht. His Father Adriaan studied law in The Netherlands and joined the VOC in 1786, arriving in Batavia in 1787 where he had a brilliant career in the service of the VOC. Starting as the second administrator of the textile warehouses and ending his career as a member of the Council of the Dutch East Indies.

Although there are no indications Willem ever was in China himself he presumably did order the ivory basket with the initials of his son as a present on the occasion of his son’s marriage in 1814 to Anna Margaretha Matthes in Utrecht.