{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O64604"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O64604/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BM8499/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BM8499/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BM8499","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KV7384","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O64604/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O64604","accessionNumber":"P.7-1954","objectType":"Oil painting","titles":[{"title":"Chinese Fisherman Hunting a Crocodile (one of eleven panels with Chinoiserie decoration)","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>This is one of a set of 11 Chinoiserie panels (Museum nos. P.6 to 16-1954) that was acquired by the Museum in 1954. It is not known which house they were originally intended for, but they relate closely to a set of similar panels painted in 1696 for a house in Botolph Lane, London.<br><br><b>People</b><br>Very little is known about the painter and printmaker Robert Robinson and not much of his work survives, apart from the two sets of panels. The panels' dramatic quality may be attributable to Robinson's work as a scene painter for the theatre.<br><br><b>Subjects Depicted</b><br>Throughout the 17th century goods from East Asia were highly fashionable. However, these painted panels are one of the earliest manifestations of Chinoiserie. The term denotes purely decorative fantasies produced by European artists and based roughly on East Asian themes, as opposed to imitation of true Chinese forms in such techniques as lacquer work. In these panels all manner of whimsical grotesques are mingled with reminiscences of Chinese, Tartar, and Indian themes.","physicalDescription":"Oil painted panel with Chinoiserie decoration showing a fantastic scene of Chinese fishermen trying to catch a crocodile with a large baited hook, on the bank of a river,  in a rocky landscape, watched by men in boats.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Robinson, Robert","id":"A8790"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"oil paint","id":"AAT15050"},{"text":"tempera","id":"AAT15062"},{"text":"panel","id":"AAT14657"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"oil and tempera on panel","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"}],"styles":[{"text":"Chinoiserie","id":"AAT21167"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2007BM8499","2018KV7384"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"B","id":"THES304624"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"oil paintings","id":"AAT33799"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1696","earliest":"1691-01-01","latest":"1700-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Presented by Art Fund","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"214.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"87.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"","value":"","unit":"","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Measurement taken at time of assessment prior to BH decant - Frame Dimensions (mm): H-2272 W-1011 D-45;\nPainting Dimensions (mm): not measured"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Presented by the Art Fund, 1954","historicalContext":"It is not known which house this set of panels was originally intended for, but they relate closely to a set of similar panels, which were painted in 1696 for a house at 5 Botolph Lane, in the City of London and removed to Sir John Cass's Foundation Primary School, Aldgate, London, in 1906. Very little is known about the painter Robert Robinson and not much of his work survives, apart from these two sets of panels. Robinson's work anticipates the mania for Chinoiserie in England by 30 years or more. The Botolph Lane panels are a mixture of Chinese and Peruvian scenes, whereas the set now in the Museum is mainly Chinese in inspiration. Throughout the 17th century goods from the Far East were highly fashionable. However, these painted panels are one of the earliest manifestations of chinoiserie, i.e. purely decorative fantasies by European artists, based roughly upon Far Eastern themes, as opposed to imitation of true Chinese forms such as lacquer work. In the V&A panels all kinds of whimsical grotesques are mingled with reminiscences of Chinese, Tartar, and Indian themes.","briefDescription":"Oil painted panel with Chinoiserie decoration, [one of a set of 11] showing a fantastic scene of Chinese fishermen trying to catch a crocodile with a baited hook, in a rocky landscape, by Robert Robinson, about 1696.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"E. Croft-Murray: Decorative Painting in England, 1537-1837, i (London, 1962), pp. 46-7\r\nE. Croft-Murray: An English Painter of Chinoiseries (Country Life Annual, 1955) pp174-179"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Musée Cernuschi, <u>Pagodas et Dragons. Exotisme et fantaisie dans L'Europe rococo 1720-1770</u> Paris: Paris musées, 2007. ISBN 978-2-87900-993-3."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<u>Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1954 </u> London: HMSO, 1963"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"crocodile","id":"x34938"},{"text":"fishermen (people)","id":"AAT25608"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["The fishing for a crocodile might be taken from an account of the process by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. In a famous passage in his History, [Book 2 chapter 70] he describes the Egyptians fishing for crocodiles, using the chine of a pig as bait."],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["P.7-1954"],"accessionNumberNum":"7","accessionNumberPrefix":"P","accessionYear":1954,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-31","recordCreationDate":"2002-04-09","availableToBook":true}}