Page 173 - Fine Chinese Ceramics Sept 2016

A SPECTACULAR PAIR OF

JIAQING YELLOW-GROUND FAMILLE ROSE VASES

FROM THE COLLECTION OF NICHOLAS MONSARRAT (1839-1910)

Nicholas Monsarrat, who originally acquired this rare pair of vases during the 1870s, was
born in London, Ontario in 1839, of Irish and French heritage. He has been described as a
“tall, distinguished-looking man with a fne mind and great executive ability.” He attended the
University of Toronto and became an attorney and barrister, but like other young men of the
time he decided that he would have more of a future in America and moved here in his early 30s.
This was the beginning of a period of enormous growth in the United States, much of it spurred
by the expansion of railroads, and while frst working in one of the banks of the fnancier Collis
Huntington, Monsarrat learned about railroads, and saw this as his future. In 1872 he obtained
his frst position in the railroad business at the Paducah and Memphis Railroad. After resigning
from this position in 1881 he continued to advance within the railroad business holding various
positions at various railroads until in 1899 he was made president of the Hocking Valley Railroad
as well as the Kanawah & Michigan Railroad, which was based in Columbus, Ohio. It was twelve
miles outside of Columbus that Monsarrat created a 200 acre estate, Mount Air, where he and
his wife, the former Corinne Blanche Henry whom he met in Kentucky during his early years in
the railroad business, and six children lived, and where he enjoyed his collections of fne books,
paintings and furniture. Mount Air was his retreat from the world of business, with its own
railroad siding to accommodate his private railroad car that he would take from Columbus.

Since the death of Nicholas Monsarrat in October 1910, the present pair of vases has remained
in the family, and has been passed down through several generations.

Nicholas Monsarrat (1839-1910) Corinne Blanche Henry Monsarrat (1849-1921)

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