A Prince's Treasure
120 objects from the Royal Collection return to the Royal Pavilion in Brighton
CHINA
Pair of mounted vases
vases: mid-18th century, mounts: early 19th centuryPorcelain with deep blue glaze and gilt bronze | 85.1 x 35.5 cm (whole object) | RCIN 2352
A pair of Chinese porcelain vases with French gilt-bronze mounts. Pear-shaped bottles with tubular neck and spreading foot. The mouth rim is fitted with an everted gilt bronze leaf-cast band attached to which is a pair of acanthus twin-branch handles scrolling under the rim with a rosette; the handles emerge from the heads of horned and bearded satyrs attached to the shoulders. The vases sit in circular stepped bases cast with acanthus leaves.
An entry in Jutsham Dels in March 1819 records ‘Two Blue ground Bottles richly Mounted in Or Molu with Satyr’s heads & Rams Horns with rich Square Bases 2 ft. 10 Inches [86.4 cm] high Bought by Mr Watier … sent to Brighton 27 March 1819’ (Jutsham Dels I.314). The gilding and chasing of mounts are suggestive of the works of the Thomire workshop. Jutsham records the vases with square bases, which may be a mistake.
Favoured at the Qing court (1644–1911) on account of their Ming imperial connotations, glazes in deep cobalt blue were also a popular item of export throughout the period. There are many examples in the Collection of the mottled ‘powder blue’ of the Kangxi reign (1662–1722), with typical overpainted designs in gilt; and gilt-bronze candelabra of this colour were a requirement for the Green Drawing Room (later known as the Banqueting Room Gallery) at Brighton. A group of rarer pieces are those with pale blue glazes, among which are a number painted with designs in blue and red, which in France were often dressed in gilt-bronze mounts of the highest quality.
An entry in Jutsham Dels in March 1819 records ‘Two Blue ground Bottles richly Mounted in Or Molu with Satyr’s heads & Rams Horns with rich Square Bases 2 ft. 10 Inches [86.4 cm] high Bought by Mr Watier … sent to Brighton 27 March 1819’ (Jutsham Dels I.314). The gilding and chasing of mounts are suggestive of the works of the Thomire workshop. Jutsham records the vases with square bases, which may be a mistake.
Favoured at the Qing court (1644–1911) on account of their Ming imperial connotations, glazes in deep cobalt blue were also a popular item of export throughout the period. There are many examples in the Collection of the mottled ‘powder blue’ of the Kangxi reign (1662–1722), with typical overpainted designs in gilt; and gilt-bronze candelabra of this colour were a requirement for the Green Drawing Room (later known as the Banqueting Room Gallery) at Brighton. A group of rarer pieces are those with pale blue glazes, among which are a number painted with designs in blue and red, which in France were often dressed in gilt-bronze mounts of the highest quality.
Text adapted from Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen: Volume II.
