Vase

Baluster garniture vase
China
Porcelain, enamel, gilt
c. 1780

Status

On view

Date1775-1815

Geography Made - China

Medium/TechniquePorcelain (hard-paste), gilt

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 12 1/8 in. x 4 9/16 in. x 4 9/16 in. (30.8 cm x 11.59 cm x 11.59 cm)

Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. James S. Reibel, 2003

Object numberM-4296/A-B

DescriptionBaluster-shaped vase with a tall, narrow neck, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue and overglaze gilt. Low-domed lid with outward-flaring rim and a recumbent lion-of-Fo knop on a high foot ring, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue and overglaze polychrome enamels and gilt. A cell-diaper border encircles the rim of the lid and the neck of the vase just below the mouth. The shoulders of the vase have a trellis-diaper border with spearheads and double dots. On the front and back of the vase, within a tall, rectangular reserve framed by flowers, foliage, and scrolls, is a right-anchored landscape with two birds in flight at top center above a river flowing between two points of wooded land with buildings. A single-masted ship appears at left in the river between the two points of land. The sides of the vase each feature two small, rectangular reserves framed by flowers, foliage, and scrolls, one containing a left-anchored landscape with a pavilion (at top) and the other a right-anchored landscape with a pavilion (at bottom). The ground between the reserves is filled with flowering branches or vines. Two rows of fishroe-diaper encircle the base. The lid features rectangular reserves on the front and back, each framed by flowers, foliage, and scrolls, containing right-anchored landscapes with a pavilion. The ground between the reserves is filled with flowering branches or vines. All areas of the design on the vase and the lid were originally picked out in gilt; the gilt has worn away in some areas but is largely intact. The knop is gilded. A gilded Chinese key border overlays the fishroe-diaper border at the base.
Published ReferencesChristie’s, Manson & Woods International Inc., Captains and Kilns: British Ceramics and Maritime Art: 23 January 2003, Sale Catalogue 1191 (New York: Christie’s, 2003), lot # 272.

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