A Louis XVI gilt bronze mounted Chinese celadon garniture vase

the porcelain Qianlong period (1735 - 1795), the mounts circa 1775

Footnotes

Produced in the provinces of Kaifeng and Longquan in China from the 4th century onwards, Celadon porcelain was highly prized for its characteristic jade coloured glaze produced by the chemical processes which took place whilst firing. Initially left monochrome and incised or relief moulded with floral, geometric and zoomorphic decoration, wares were later decorated with delicate overglaze decoration on the underglaze blue painted grounds with flowers and foliage in white, iron red and sometimes peach as in the current lot. Hugely popular in the Chinese Imperial Court, Celadons's popularity spread to the Chinese domestic market and then to rest of Asian and beyond. During the
Ming Dynasty (1344-1644), examples of the porcelain finally made their way to Europe where it was as highly prized as gold.

By the time of Louis XIV and the Regence, the French were readily mounting Chinese porcelain with European styled gilt bronze mounts which were retailed by the marchand- merciers from components assembled in their workshops outsourced craftsmen. The use of contemporary French gilt bronze mounts perhaps removed the
outwardly 'foreign' characteristics of the porcelain whilst letting them retain the romance of their far exotic eastern origins.

As the 18th century progressed the vogue for blue and white porcelain in fashionable circles receded and was replaced by polychrome wares but monochrome wares continued in popularity as the fashions in mounts moved from those of the early 18th century into the rococo and later into the neo-classical.

Although almost certainly originally conceived as pair or even as a larger three piece garniture, vases of this age, quality and style would have originally been only intended as a decorative addition to a room.

The bold reeded handles and laurel garland uppers mounts and cut corner plinth base of the present lot are stylistically typical of the early neo-classical period and contrast with the finely enamelled decoration of the prunus sprays and birds to the Celadon glazed porcelain body.

Related Literature and Comparable Vases

A comparable pair of vases with water-lily decoration on a light aqua ground and with identical mounts are illustrated in G. & R Wannenes, Les bronzes ornementaux et les objets montés de Louis XIV à Napoléon III , Milan, 2004, p. 335 and a further pair of vases with similar but differently painted decoration to the porcelain but probably from the same Chinese workshop are featured in the same volume p. 324.

Two further pairs of comparable Celadon vases with a variant forms of floral decoration can be found in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Inv. 1907.206.22) and the Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (Inv. L.97.DI.9).

A pair of similar period Celadon vase painted with similar birds to the bird on the present lot and with mounts attributed to Pierre Gouthiere, circa 1770 were sold by Christies, London, 6th December 2012, lot 14.