A PAIR OF MAGNIFICENT FAMILLE-VERTE DOUBLE-GOURD VASES WITH ORMOLU BASES AND GILT BROWN LACQUER ...

A PAIR OF MAGNIFICENT FAMILLE-VERTE DOUBLE-GOURD VASES WITH ORMOLU BASES AND GILT BROWN LACQUER STANDS Porcelain: Kangxi period; French gilt-bronze mounts: probably 19th century; Lacquer stands: probably early 19th century The upper and lower gourd each painted with four equally spaced descending ruyi-shaped lappets decorated with dense scrolling peony tendrils painted in yellow and outlined in black on an apple-green ground and with reserve-decorated iron-red floral borders, divided at the central waist with a wide cell band with flowerhead cartouches with blue enamel surrounds, similarly painted at the neck, supported on a gilt ormolu base and further supported on a gilt and square brown lacquer stand with four tall cabriole legs on a narrow solid base and unusually configured with a pull-out drawer at the apron. 26in (66cm) height of each vase; 30in (76.3cm) height of each with ormolu base; 33 x 23 x 23in (83.8 x 58.3 x 58.3cm) lacquer stands (4). Footnotes: Provenance: Yamanaka & Co., New York (the lacquer stands) 清康熙 大件五彩葫蘆瓶一對 法國銅鎏金座或為十九世紀 黑漆描金香几或為十九世紀初 Published Collection d'Anciennes Porcelaines de Chine et Pierres Dures, Paris, 1912, p. 5, no. 1, pl. II (one only illustrated) Exhibited Exposee a l'Hotel Astoria, Paris, 1912 出版 Collection d'Anciennes Porcelaines de Chine et Pierres Dures，巴黎，1912年，頁5，1號，插圖II (僅附圖其中一件) 展覽 巴黎Exposee a l'Hotel Astoria，1912年 A magnificent pair of famille-verte triple-gourd vases from the E. J. Stokesbury Collection, Whitemarsh Hall, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia and exhibited on loan at the Pennsylvania Museum of Art prior to 1942, and later sold at Christie's, New York, 21 September 2000, lot 318, bear comparison with our double-gourd examples, and display a similar use of large ruyi-shaped lappets decorated on a green ground with flowerheads on the upper and lower gourds. The major difference being the use of a thick black outline that frames the lappets on the triple gourds. This same feature can be found on a six-piece famille-verte garniture of smaller vases formerly in the famed Fonthill Heirlooms, that can also be favorably compared with our pair and which sold at Christie's, New York, 19 September 2006, lot 326. For another famille-verte gourd-shaped vase of smaller size than our pair and formerly in the famed A. W. Bahr Collection and decorated on the lower gourd with a similar ruyi-shaped cloud collar with a floral green ground but with stylized lotus flowerheads and shou characters on the upper gourd, see Christie's, New York, 25 March 2011, lot 1719. See also a massive pair of blue and white and underglaze red-decorated vases from a private American collection with very similar ruyi-shaped cloud collar motifs to both the upper and lower gourds, and similarly decorated with peony flowerhead decoration, which sold at Christie's, New York, 13 April 2016, lot 13. Early in the reign of Kangxi, the emperor revitalized the porcelain kilns at Jingdezhen. In 1680 he established a commission to investigate the state of the industry and implemented changes that included the appointment of a highly capable and innovative Director of Kilns. Jingdezhen began to turn out high quality porcelains both for the Imperial household and for export to Europe. Vases of this size, and some of even greater scale, were extremely difficult to fire successfully. The double-gourd form made the achievement even greater. Large double-gourd vases from this period are recorded but the numbers are small. They can be found various European Collections including in Augustus the Strong Collection in Dresden; the RA Collection, London; and the collection of the National Museum of Decorative Arts, Madrid. Double gourds were used in China to hold medicines and tonics, and the shape became closely associated with magic elixirs and symbolizes longevity. The Chinese word for gourd, hulu, a homophone for the word fulu, wealth and prosperity, conveys wishes for a good life. See the introduction to the catalog, Mounted Oriental Porcelain in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Oxford, 1983, pp 1-3, for a short history of metal-mounted Chinese porcelains. The mounting of Chinese vessels in European metal mounts has a long history. The practice goes back to at least the Middle Ages, and pieces so mounted survive from the early renaissance. When in the second half of the seventeenth century Chinese art began to arrive in the West in considerable numbers, they continued to be mounted in precious or semi-precious metals. The height of gilt bronze mounting took place in Europe, most importantly in Paris, France in the middle of the eighteenth century between 1740 and 1760, with revivals in the nineteenth century, particularly so under Napoléon III, and towards the third quarter of the 19th century. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing