Page 60 - Mounted Oriental Porcelain, The Getty Museum

FIG. yB. A detail of the underside of the lid. FIG. yc. A dove mark on the upper silver rim of the lid.

rare in Europe during the first quarter of the eighteenth the top of the lid is integral to the overall program of the
century, when Dutch cargoes of porcelain consisted bowl, but may not be original, having perhaps been
largely of Chinese blue-and-white, blanc-de-chine, and added in Paris when the bowl was assembled. The deco-
Japanese Imari. rative surprise on the underside of the lid may have been
The lidded bowl was once a long-necked vase that intended to delight its owner when the top was raised.
was made for domestic use. The neck of the vase was The use of silver mounts on Chinese porcelain was
cut off and a second cut was made at the shoulder to unusual in the eighteenth century. They were generally
form the lid. Cut from the base of a dish or a bowl, a fitted for aesthetic reasons to Japanese Imari porcelains.
disk of porcelain was inserted to fill the hole left by the The bowl may have been mistaken for a Japanese vessel.
1
removal of the neck. The gilding of the Getty Museum's Regardless, elaborate gilt-bronze mounts would not per-
lidded bowl is worn and was originally more extensive. haps have been suitable for this shape.
The network of double lines that defines all the painted
forms was gilded. 2 PUBLICATIONS
For reasons of economy and novelty Parisian dealer- "Acquisitions71987," GettyMus]16(1988),pp. 178-
decorators (marchands-merciers) adapted and reconfig- 79, no. 71; Bremer-David et al. 1993, p. 151, no. 251.
ured with metal mounts intact vessels and fragments
from other pieces, perhaps broken during shipping, into PROVENANCE
decorative objects. The long neck of this vase may have Acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum from
been broken in transit. Given the inventive spirit of the J. Kugel, Paris, in 1987.
marchands-merciers and the infancy of the study and
appreciation of Asian ceramics at the end of the sev- NOTES
enteenth century, no care or thought was given to the i. A pair of vases (Sotheby's, Monaco, June 15, 1996,
rarity of a vessel, and some were cut even if they had no. 125) displays the original form and decoration that
was adapted to make the Museum's lidded bowl. The
not been broken. necks of these vases have been slightly reduced in height.
The central section of the lid is cut from the foot of 2,. Much of this network of gilding remains on the com-
a roughly contemporary Japanese Kutani-style dish or 3. parison vases mentioned in note i.
I thank
Oliver Impey for this information.
bowl from Arita. 3 Kutani-style wares were abundant in
Europe at the end of the seventeenth century and were
frequently adapted and mounted with pieces of other
wares. The cinnabar-red overglaze enamel painting on

L I D D E D BOWL 47