Page 160 - Bonhams Catalog Cohen and Cohen Jan 24, 2023 New York

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A FINE LARGE FAMILLE ROSE FIVE-PIECE GARNITURE The silhouettes of the three covered jars and two vases echo the
Qianlong period, circa 1760 form of the piece next to it, creating a pleasing flow of positive and
The elegant vases of flattened quatrefoil molded section, comprising negative spaces. An assembled set of matching vases to decorate
three baluster vases and covers and two flaring vases, each enameled symmetrically the ‘mantle shelf’ of the chimney piece, the assemblage
in bright opaque colors with peonies, blue rocks, iron-red sacred was probably first named garniture de cheminée by French decorators
fungus, and other flowers, between a floral border at the rims and iron- during the late Kangxi period. Normally it would consist of three, five,
red cloud-scrolls around the bases. or seven complementary vases. The secular, purely decorative use
All about 16in (41cm) high (5). of such matched vases is a Western conceit. Visually balanced sets
of vessels were only assembled in China for use on altars, where the
$8,000 - 12,000 traditional ‘garniture’ would comprise a pair of flower vases, a pair of
candlesticks and a large incense burner filled with sand at the center.
乾隆時期 約1760年 粉彩牡丹花石靈芝紋飾瓶一套五件 These sets were first made in China for the European market towards
the end of the 17th century. Large numbers of vases decorated with
Published: the same pattern but potted in in two different, complementary shapes
Cohen & Cohen, Tyger Tyger!, Antwerp, 2016, pp. 60-61, no. 26 were discovered on the wreck of an Asian trading ship, dating to circa
1690, and sold at auction as ‘The Vung Tau Cargo’. They were almost
出版： certainly intended to have been bought ultimately in large wholesale
倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Tyger Tyger!》，安特衛普，2016年， auctions in London, Gothenburg, the Netherlands or elsewhere in
頁60-61，圖版編號26 Europe by professional retailer of Asian export products’, who would
have assembled them into matched sets in Western taste. The idea of
sets of mixed vases was copied at many European porcelain factories,
notably in the most grandiose style at Meissen; the best examples
were often painted with the initials AR as commissions for Augustus
the Strong, the porcelain-loving (and financing) Elector of Saxony at
Dresden.

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