Famille Verte 1680-1725 - Page 1

Object 2011937

Double-gourd vase

China

1700-1720

Height 82 mm (3.23 inch), diameter 41 mm (1.61 inch), diameter mouthrim 6 mm (0.24 inch), diameter of footring 19 mm (0.75 inch), weight 45 grams (1.59 ounce (oz.))

Small double-gourd vase with a tall neck on a flat unglazed base. Decorated in famille verte enamels, including green, yellow, black, iron-red and gold with two panels one filled with flowering peony sprays the other with flowering chrysanthemum sprays. Round the shoulder flower heads reserved on an iron-red ground. On the neck two panels filled with 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)

For a similarly shaped small double-gourd vase, decorated in underglaze blue, please see:

Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and white Kangxi Period Miniature Doll's House Vases 1662-1722 - Page 1 - Object 2010161.

Condition: A short hairline to the rim.

Reference:

Jörg & Flecker 2001, pp.50-51

Price: € 299 Currency Converter