82.
A ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ OVOID VASE WITH GILT METAL MOUNT
the vase Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, early 18th century; the mount European, first half of the 19th century
31 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 3574.
The ovoid vase standing on a circular gilt bronze mount, the exterior with a series of lotus and peonies sprays surrounding four large lobed reserves, each of them decorated with objects of the ‘Hundred Antiques’ (bogu) and a pair of fan-shaped cartouches with a figure in the landscape, the mouth underlined by a metal ring.
This vase exemplifies one of the many reasons why Chinese porcelain was embellished with gilt bronze mount in Europe. In this case, in fact, the metal ring which underlines the mouth serves as a kind of elegant restoration. The upper section of the original porcelain vase went broken at a certain unknown moment, suggesting to transform it in the way it appears now.
A jar with a very similar decoration is in the Gardiner Museum in Toronto (inv. G99.10.8).
A decoration with similar style can be seen also on a pair of bottle vases in this same collection.
