Landscape with a Chinese Servant Bringing Tea to a Master, Pieter Schenk (II), c. 1715 - c. 1725
A servant carries over a tea tray to his master, wearing a floral-patterned robe, similar to the one worn by Peter August across the room. Schenk the younger’s interest in depicting China must have rubbed off from his father. Schenk I’s social circle included prominent Dutchmen, such as the Amsterdam mayor and collector of Chinese objects Nicolaes Witsen (1641-1717) and the professor of Oriental languages Adriaan Reland (1676-1718).