Page 93 - Mounted Oriental Porcelain, The Getty Museum

16. PAIR OF POTPOURRI BOWLS

THE PORCELAIN: Japanese (Arita), circa 1660-80
THE GILT-BRONZE MOUNTS: French (Paris), circa 1750
J
HEIGHT: 6 in. (15.2, cm); WIDTH: 7% in. (18.7 cm); DIAMETER: 6 A in. (16.5 cm)
77.DI.9O.I-.2,

DESCRIPTION Pairs of shells, which, from their descriptions in the
Each bowl is of pale celadon glazed porcelain in various sale catalogues could be those now in the Getty
the form of a univalve conch resting on three coral clus- Museum, appear at least five times at auction in Paris in
ter feet of porcelain. The shells have fluted bodies en- the second half of the eighteenth century.
crusted with smaller shells, barnacles, and other marine In the 1767 posthumous sale of the cabinet of
forms. The interior of the serpentine lip of each shell is M. de Julienne, no. 1403 is described as:
enameled with blue and iron red. Deux belles coquilles convenes d'ancien & bon
The slightly domed lid of gilt bronze is formed as a celadon uni, a rebords colories d'un beau fond rouge,
pierced leaf of coral. It is surrounded by a plain gilt- elles sont de la plus grande perfection & garnie de
bronze rim. The semicircular handle, also of gilt bronze, bronze. 3
is in the form of a branch of seaweed (fig. i6c). Each Ten years later a similar or the same pair was sold at the
foot is shod with a gilt-bronze mount composed of shells, auction of Randon de Boisset, where it appeared in the
rocks, and branches of coral (fig. 160). catalogue as no. 603:

Deux coquilles, couvertes, de belle sortie, a rebords
MARKS None.
colories d'un beau fond rouge, nuance de bleu celeste
fonce; elles sont de la plus grande perfection, & cha-
COMMENTARY cune garnie de gorge, & de trois petits pieds en rocaille
There are a number of casting flaws in the gilt- de bronze dore. 4
bronze lids.
The shells were probably intended for export to the It was bought for 600 livres by the duchesse de Ma-
West, since the shape is not found among native Japanese zarin. The shells do not appear in her inventory of 1781,
wares. In the Residenzmuseum, Munich, there is a pair and it is likely that she gave the pair to her lover,
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of shells of the same model. In place of the pierced gilt- Radix de Sainte-Foy. It is described as no. 55 in his sale
bronze lids of the Getty vases, each has an oval lid of of 1782:
porcelain, surrounded by a gilt-bronze rim. A hole in Deux coquilles singuleres, a rebords colories d'un
center appears to have once been fitted with a handle. beau fond rouge, nuance de bleu celeste fonce, garnies
The porcelain feet are not shod with gilt bronze. An- de couvercles, avec entrelacs a jour, bouton de co-
other pair of shells was on the London market in 1985. quilles, <& trois pieds en rocaille de bronze dore, Hau-
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Completely unmounted, the lids were centered by small teur 6 pouces, largeur j pouces.
coral-red crabs. Another Japanese shell of almost iden- The shells were sold for 130 livres to the marchand-
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tical form was sold at auction in 1979. It was painted mercier Jean-Baptiste-Pierre LeBrun. They appear again
with polychrome colors and had a rough, spongelike in the auction held after his death in 1791, where as
surface. It possessed a porcelain lid and was elaborately no. 698 they are described in precisely the same way,
mounted in gilt bronze with shells, seaweed, branches of with the added comment: "Elles viennent de la vente de
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coral, and rocks. M. Saint-Foi." They were acquired by the commissaire-
priseur Paillet for 120 livres.

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