Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Vases - Page 1

Object 2010789

Double-gourd vase

China

1700-1720

Height 65 mm (2.55 inch), diameter 33 mm (1.29 inch), diameter of mouthrim 11 mm (0.43 inch), diameter of foot 16 mm (0.63 inch), weight 35 grams (1.23 ounce (oz.))

A double-gourd miniature "doll's house" vase on footring, spherical body and tall, tapering neck rising from an angular swelling. Decorated in underglaze blue with a flowering peony spray and an insect in flight. Around the neck two flower sprays.

At the beginning of the 18th century, there was a fashion among wealthy Dutch ladies to have models made on the scale of a house, the so called "doll's houses". The rooms of these doll's houses were furnished with miniature pieces of porcelain, furniture, paintings, upholstery and all other sorts of objects that would have belonged to the interior of a wealthy home. These doll's houses were very costly and certainly not meant for children to play with but were proudly displayed for friends and visitors and regarded as extremely luxurious items - counterparts of the cabinets of curiosities that were a fashionable hobby of rich men. Only a few of these doll's houses have been preserved. One example can be found in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague showing an 18th century room with porcelain miniatures in cupboards and on brackets along the wall. In reality the majority of these "miniature doll's house vases" would have been part of the interior. A good example of an authentic porcelain room is the famous cabinet in Pommersfelden Castle, Germany, where groups of pieces on brackets are surrounded by these miniature vases lining the borders of the consoles. (Jörg & Flecker 2001, pp.50-51)

Condition: A very tiny, popped bubble of glaze to the angular swelling, caused by the firing process.

Reference:

Jörg & Flecker 2001, pp.50-51

Price: € 149 Currency Converter