Page 93 - Mounted Oriental Porcelain Getty Museum
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16. PAIR OF P O T P O U R R I BOWLS
THE PORCELAIN: Japanese (Arita), circa 1660-80
THE GILT-BRONZE MOUNTS: French (Paris), circa 1750
HEIGHT: 6 in. (15.2, cm); WIDTH: 7% in. (18.7 cm); DIAMETER: 6JA 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
forms. The interior of the serpentine lip of each shell is In the 1767 posthumous sale of the cabinet of
enameled with blue and iron red. M. de Julienne, no. 1403 is described as:
The slightly domed lid of gilt bronze is formed as a
pierced leaf of coral. It is surrounded by a plain gilt- Deux belles coquilles convenes d'ancien & bon
bronze rim. The semicircular handle, also of gilt bronze, celadon uni, a rebords colories d'un beau fond rouge,
is in the form of a branch of seaweed (fig. i6c). Each elles sont de la plus grande perfection & garnie de
foot is shod with a gilt-bronze mount composed of shells, bronze.3
rocks, and branches of coral (fig. 160).
Ten years later a similar or the same pair was sold at the
MARKS None. auction of Randon de Boisset, where it appeared in the
catalogue as no. 603:
COMMENTARY
There are a number of casting flaws in the gilt- Deux coquilles, couvertes, de belle sortie, a rebords
bronze lids. colories d'un beau fond rouge, nuance de bleu celeste
The shells were probably intended for export to the fonce; elles sont de la plus grande perfection, & cha-
West, since the shape is not found among native Japanese cune garnie de gorge, & de trois petits pieds en rocaille
wares. In the Residenzmuseum, Munich, there is a pair de bronze dore.4
of shells of the same model.1 In place of the pierced gilt-
bronze lids of the Getty vases, each has an oval lid of It was bought for 600 livres by the duchesse de Ma-
porcelain, surrounded by a gilt-bronze rim. A hole in zarin. The shells do not appear in her inventory of 1781,
center appears to have once been fitted with a handle. and it is likely that she gave the pair to her lover,
The porcelain feet are not shod with gilt bronze. An- Radix de Sainte-Foy. It is described as no. 55 in his sale
other pair of shells was on the London market in 1985. of 1782:
Completely unmounted, the lids were centered by small
coral-red crabs. Another Japanese shell of almost iden- Deux coquilles singuleres, a rebords colories d'un
tical form was sold at auction in 1979.2 It was painted beau fond rouge, nuancede bleu celeste fonce, garnies
with polychrome colors and had a rough, spongelike de couvercles, avec entrelacs a jour, bouton de co-
surface. It possessed a porcelain lid and was elaborately quilles, <& trois pieds en rocaille de bronze dore, Hau-
mounted in gilt bronze with shells, seaweed, branches of teur 6 pouces, largeur j pouces.5
coral, and rocks.
The shells were sold for 130 livres to the marchand-
mercier Jean-Baptiste-Pierre LeBrun. They appear again
in the auction held after his death in 1791, where as
no. 698 they are described in precisely the same way,
with the added comment: "Elles viennent de la vente de
M. Saint-Foi." 6 They were acquired by the commissaire-
priseur Paillet for 120 livres.
80
