Italian missionary’s artwork for Chinese Emperor now sculpted into porcelain series

A porcelain work by Taiwan-based sculptor Chou Hanyu features 10 dogs from Italian missionary Giuseppe Castiglione's series, 'The Ten Prized Dogs'. Photo: Handout

In the 18th century, Italian missionary Giuseppe Castiglione, who was an artist for three emperors in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), drew a series called The Ten Prized Dogs for emperor Qianlong, who had lots of hunting hounds.

The dogs from the paintings are now sculpted into a porcelain work to mark the Year of the Dog of the Chinese lunar calendar. Sculptor Chou Hanyu designed the work featuring the dogs for Franz Collection, a Taiwan-based porcelain brand.