Vase mounted as a ewer
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One of a pair of deep blue glazed porcelain vases, mounted in gilt bronze as ewers.
The flattened hexagonal shaped vase has a high foot, bulbed section above and a neck with three moulded ribs. The gilt-bronze scrollwork feet is decorated with small flowers. The handle has winding leaf and flower decoration. It divides into two at the rim following the curve and then projecting into a spout.
The traces of the previous, scraped off, decorative gilding on the body of the vase can still be seen.
The pair to this vase is slightly larger in size.
The practice of mounting porcelain from East Asia in Europe dates back at least to the Middle Ages. From being first used to highlight the rarity of certain objects it later became a practice to enhance the beauty of objects or change their function, and to make them suitable for fashionable European interiors. This trend especially became prevalent in 18th-century France where gilt bronze was used to decorate furniture, wall lights and both East Asian and European porcelain.
Adding a gilt-bronze mount to pieces would have cost a considerable amount, so only the richest members of society could afford to commission them. So called, merchant merciers, or luxury goods dealers, would buy Chinese and Japanese ceramic wares and have mounts made for them, becoming trend-setters in the process. The makers of the gilt bronze mounts are often unknown, but similarities in mount design may indicate they were made in the same workshop or that the dealer owned a master design which then was adapted by different metalworkers. This ewer was stamped with the tax mark, crowned 'C' which was in use between 1745-1749 to indicate the mount had alloy containing copper.
Even before, and throughout the 17th century the blue-and-white glazed wares from East Asia were the most fashionable. However, in the 18th century taste gradually changed and the celadons and other monochrome wares, such as this deep blue glazed vase tended to be preferred for mounting, not least because it was much harder to achieve an even glaze with just one colour. Interestingly, the pair of vases were originally richly decorated in gold with typical scenes and patterns from East Asia. On one side, a lady with a fawn can be seen surrounded by trees and bushes. On the other side, a man sitting in a small boat. The neck of the vase shows a small scene with a various pots and cherry blossoms. The designs are now only visible in faint outlines because they were scraped off most likely after they arrived to Europe to fit better with the gilt-bronze mounts and the changing tastes of the French luxury home.
Anna Szilágyi, 2022
Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)
564 x 324 x 210
Marks
Crowned 'C'
Excise mark
stamped four times
Provenance
- Acquired by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in Belgium; inherited by his sister Alice de Rothschild; inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild; bequeathed to Waddesdon (National Trust) in 1957
Collection
- Waddesdon (National Trust)
- Bequest of James de Rothschild, 1957
Bibliography
- Lucy Morton; Recent Acquisitions; London; Partridge Fine Arts Plc., Frank Partridge & Sons; 1999; p.146
- R J Charleston, John Ayers, Anthony Blunt; Meissen and other European Porcelain: The James A de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor:; Fribourg; Office du Livre; 1971; pp. 278-279; cat. 91
- Geoffrey de Bellaigue, Anthony Blunt; Furniture Clocks and Gilt Bronzes: The James A de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; 2 vols; Fribourg; Office du Livre; 1974; p. 750; cat. 195
- Gillian Wilson; Mounted Oriental Porcelain in the J. Paul Getty Museum; Los Angeles; Getty Publications; 1983; p. 61; cat. 12 similar mounts on pair of ewers
Related files
- Entry from (Bellaigue, 1974):, http://api.waddesdon.org.uk/docs/furniture/2671.1-2.pdf