Hexagonal teapot with European figures

Here a European man in eighteenth-century costume sits on the ground like a Chinese scholar at a picnic; nearby a European woman nurses a baby. Their surroundings are a Chinese house and garden. Behind the woman is a stack of Chinese-style books, and behind the man is a Chinese table displaying an ancient Chinese bronze vessel, a vase, and a bowl of Buddha's-hand citrons.
What we are to make of the scene is far from clear. The figure of the woman probably came from a European drawing or engraving, as perhaps the figure of the man did too. In any case they seem to have adapted themselves comfortably to lounging in their Chinese courtyard.
Objects such as this were often made for the European market, but the mixture of European figures and Chinese setting must have seemed quaint to both Chinese and European eyes.