Garniture vase

Status

Not on view

Label Text

This vase was likely part of a three- or five-part garniture or set of vases that the Washingtons possibly displayed on a mantel at Mount Vernon. On this example, the classic Chinese form has been ornamented with a picturesque landscape and floral sprays, decorations intended to appeal to Western taste.

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Date1790-1800

Geography Made - China

Medium/TechniquePorcelain (hard-paste), enamel, gilt

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 11 3/4 in. x 5 in. x 5 in. (29.85 cm x 12.7 cm x 12.7 cm) Other (A): 10 1/2 in. x 5 in. x 5 in. (26.67 cm x 12.7 cm x 12.7 cm) Other (B): 2 1/8 in. x 3 1/2 in. x 3 1/2 in. (5.41 cm x 8.89 cm x 8.89 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, 1956

Object numberW-2101/A-B

DescriptionA:
Baluster-shaped vase decorated in sepia, black, and gilt with a view of a castle in a circular reserve on the front and back; each reserve is framed by a border of alternating four-petal flowers and leaves in black and gilt and depicts a castle with several circular towers, a figure visible within the main gate and four birds soaring above, two intertwined trees at right and a landscape strewn with rocks and short trees in the foreground; several bouquets of flowers of varying sizes, each painted in sepia and black and picked out in gilt, decorate the rest of the vase - large bouquets on each side, middle-sized bouquets below the reserves on front and back, and small bouquets scattered across the remaining ground; a band of alternating four-petal flowers and leaves in black and gilt accents the neck and base; a gilt fish-scale border ornaments the collar; high footrim, glazed on interior of well.

B:
Domed lid with outward-flaring rim and a gilded, recumbent lion-of-Fo knop; shoulder is encircled with a band of alternating four-petal flowers and leaves in black and gilt; a gilt fish-scale border ornaments the edge of the rim; glazed on inside of lid; base of lid has been left unglazed.

Published ReferencesSusan Gray Detweiler, George Washington's Chinaware (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1982), 171-172.

Agnes Peter Mott, Peter Collection (Copy of a List Loaned by Miss Agnes Peter, May 1937) [PFL], bound photocopy, Curatorial File Room, 38.

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