Page 12 - Wolley & Wallace, July 1, 2020 Japanese Works of Art UK

Exbury House, Hampshire

218
A PAIR OF IMPRESSIVE JAPANESE IMARI BALUSTER VASES
EDO PERIOD, 18 CENTURY
TH
Both decorated in underglaze blue, gilt, red, green and pink enamels with fan and ribbon-shaped panels enclosing ho-ho birds perched on branches
of paulownia, on a deep navy-blue ground with flowering chrysanthemum amongst scrolling tendrils in gilt, with shaped lappets above the foot and
smaller panels around the neck enclosing further birds and stylised lotus flowers, the shoulders with a band of leaping dragons on a red ground, both
raised on elegant European ormolu mounts, probably 19th century, both 71cm. (2)
£3,000-5,000

Provenance: Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942), Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009), the Trustees of
Exbury House.
Cf. J Ayers, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, vol.II,
pp.677-8 for two pairs of Japanese Imari vases with comparable decoration.
Lionel de Rothschild, OBE (1882-1942) was the eldest son of Leopold de Rothschild and part of the
prominent Rothschild banking family of England. After the death of his father in 1917, Lionel and
his brother Anthony became the managing partners of N M Rothschild & Sons bank. Aside from his
involvement in the family bank, Lionel was also a Conservative politician, serving as MP for the Vale of
Aylesbury from 1910 to 1923.
After selling Halton House which he had inherited from his uncle Alfred de Rothschild in 1918, the
following year Lionel purchased the Mitford estate at Exbury in Hampshire. Lionel had been interested in
horticulture from an early age and dedicated much time and money into creating an impressive garden
at Exbury. He was also responsible for the building of Exbury House on the estate in the 1920s. Lionel
passed away in 1942, and the estate was inherited by his son Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009) who
devoted himself not only to the family business but also to maintaining and developing Exbury Gardens
which had fallen into disrepair during the Second World War. Whilst Exbury House remains private, the
gardens are open to the public and are still regarded as some of the finest in the United Kingdom today.
These Japanese vases (opposite) were in the collection of Lionel de Rothschild at Exbury House and
subsequently passed by descent to Edmund.
Lionel de Rothschild
(1882-1942)

10 See paragraphs 4 & 5 of our conditions of business at the back of the catalogue for additional charges on the final hammer prices