Tag Archives: Chinese porcelain

Book Review: THE MALCOM D. GUTTER COLLECTION OF EARLY MEISSEN PORCELAIN

THE MALCOM D. GUTTER COLLECTION OF EARLY MEISSEN PORCELAIN

EDITED BY MARIA SANTANGELO

Hirmer Verlag
ISBN-10: 3777429848
ISBN-13: 978-3777429847
£52.00

 978-3-7774-2984-7

In reviewing this book I should first like to say that I have known Malcolm for some nineteen years, usually meeting him each time he comes to London and so have been lucky to hear first hand some of the stories about how he acquired pieces for his amazing collection. The stories he so generously shares in this volume highlight what it is to be a true collector – the victories, the defeats and most importantly the ‘kismet’ when an object and collector eventually come together because that is the right outcome.

The quality of these items is remarkable and their history even more so. Malcolm explains how –  on  a limited budget as he is an academic – he has acquired these early Meissen pieces including those that were made for Augustus II’s Japanisches Palais in Dresden which was built to house his porcelain collections and which also included Chinese and Japanese porcelain. Malcolm has some of these too with the Japanese Palace’s inventory mark on them.  It is quite possible that such pieces were the inspiration for modellers and decorators at Meissen.

It really is a “Princely” collection and devotees of Meissen should be grateful for all the studying and hard work Malcolm put into forming this remarkable collection and for his promising it to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. While I like porcelain I have never been particularly drawn to Meissen but this book has opened my mind to it in a way that I had not expected. That is really something for a book to achieve! So well done Malcolm in sharing your enthusiasm with a wider public and for allowing us to get a taste of what it is to be a collector of your magnitude.

 

http://www.hirmerverlag.de

Moments of Pleasure

Juno Antiques – Moments of Pleasure, E & H Manners, 66C Kensington Church Street, W8, 27th June – 1st July 2017

Bristol or Liverpool tin-glazed charger, painted in a Ming Transitional style with a stag and surrounding figures, c.1750-60

Kensington – The Heart of Ceramics features four specialist dealers showing ceramics in Kensington Church Street

One of those taking part is Juno Antiques (Haydn Hansell, Paul McKay and Miles Thompson) who specialise in both 18th century British ceramics and pottery. This year their rather special exhibition celebrates their tenth anniversary. They also stock a good selection of 18th century European pieces as well as glass and enamels. They are certainly to be congratulated on this milestone. 

Rare large pair of hexagonal reticulated Chinese vases and covers, decorated in the London studio of James Giles, c.1750-60

http://www.junoantiques.com/

http://theheartofceramics.com/

Rare Meissen moulded sugar box and cover, painted with chinoiserie scenes reserved on a a ground of blue scales, c.1740

Treasure Houses: The homes of the Dukes of Buccleuch and Queensberry

 

BOUGHTON

The House, its People and its Collections

By Richard, Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry

Photographs by Fritz von der Schulenburg

Published by Caique Publishing Ltd
ISBN 978 0 9565948 5 3 
£17.95 / $21.80 / 81.41 TL 

 

 

 

BOWHILL

The House, its People and its Paintings

Introduced by Richard, Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry

Edited by John Montagu Douglas Scott

Photographs by Fritz von der Schulenburg

Published by Caique Publishing Ltd
ISBN 978 0 9565948 2 2
£12.95 / $15.73 / 58.73 TL
 

 

DRUMLANRIG

The Castle, its People and its Paintings

By Richard, Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry

Photographs by Fritz von der Schulenburg

Published by Caique Publishing Ltd
ISBN 978 0 9565948 4 6
£10.95 / $13.30 / 49.66 TL
Paperback, 96 pages, Second Edition
 

These three guidebooks are much more than just that as they provide a fascinating introduction to the houses and collections of the incumbent Dukes.  You will encounter Rembrandt, Canaletto, Van Dyck and El Greco, as well as family portraits by Gainsborough, Reynolds and Ramsay, There are miniatures, French and English furniture, Sèvres made for Louis XV, items commemorating Sir Walter Scott and the Duke of Monmouth, silver and a huge variety of textiles and rugs. It is an extensive and engaging collection in three very different houses, two, Bowhill and Drumlanrig, are in Scotland and then Boughton in England which the late John Cornforth once described as ‘the English Versailles’.

These books are of serious appeal to anyone interested in the fine and decorative arts, architecture and historic interiors.

http://www.bowhillhouse.co.uk

http://www.boughtonhouse.co.uk

http://www.drumlanrigcastle.co.uk

http://www.caiquepublishing.com

 

Bouke de Vries

Bouke de Vries -“Fractured Images”, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery Ltd., 533 Old York Road, London SW18, 8th June – 15th July 2017 

 

Grown from Chinese clay, 2017
18th century Chinese porcelain fragments and mixed media
150x120x580

I believe that we owe a great debt of gratitude to Bouke de Vries for his belief, which reflects that held in China and Japan, that broken important ceramic pieces are worthy of repair. He has said “I wanted to give these objects, which are regarded as valueless, a new story and move their history forwards. A broken object can still be as beautiful as a perfect object.” It is a great philosophy and thanks to his artistic imagination and great skill – he is a ceramics conservator – he has created some wonderful pieces.

Map of china of China, 2017
18th and 19th century Chinese porcelain fragments and mixed media
11220×960 mm

This show of works reflect the enduring role of China in the production of ceramics worldwide over the centuries. His works are thought-provoking, sometimes humorous, but always engrossing. He has specially created a new non-ceramic work for the exhibition – a plaster doll of a Chinese dancer which combines the old with the new through his use of computer circuit boards.

Jar carrier, 2017
Han dynasty figure and 15th century Chinese porcelain marine archaeology jars and marble
250x250x109 mm

 

www.kristinhjellegjerde.com

 

 

PS: You can also see:
Bouke De Vries: War and pieces, Berrington Hall, Herefordshire
Until 05 November 2017

 

White Ceramics Win!

An Exhibition and Sale: Inspired by Blanc de Chine – The Anthony Collection of White Porcelain, Stockspring Antiques, 114 Kensington Church St, London W8, 7th – 14th June 2017

Mennecy pot-pourri and cover, c. 1750-55

There is something alluring about white porcelain where the only decoration is moulded or applied giving the pieces a sculptural quality and one can quite understand why collectors such as Thelma Chrysler Foy and Mrs Charles Allen Jnr were drawn to it.

St Cloud cups and saucers, left c. 1720-40; right c. 1730-50

Now this exciting collection of more than one hundred and ten pieces of porcelain – Chinese, French, Italian, English and Meissen – dating from c1640 – c1795 gives collectors a great chance to acquire fine examples of this genre.

Meissen coffee pot and cover, c. 1725-30

Garnered over a period of around twenty years the Anthony Collection reveals the influence of Chinese blanc de Chine on European porcelain factories and how these factories then created shapes that were European in origin. It is a fascinating visual feast.

Bow sucriers, c. 1752-54

http://www.antique-porcelain.co.uk

Lord Weidenfeld

The Collection of The late Lord Weidenfeld GBE: A Life of Ideals and Ideas, Christie’s, 8 King Street, St James’s, London SW1, 18th May 2017

Lot 509
Bernardo Cavallino (Naples 1616–?1656)
Saint Dorothy
oil on canvas
27.7/8 x 22.7/8 in. (72 x 58 cm.)
Estimate: £150,000-200,000
© Christie’s Images Limited 2017

This is a very rare and final chance to see the private world of the publisher and philanthropist George Weidenfeld (1919-2016). He was created Baron Weidenfeld of Chelsea in 1976. He had co-founded the famous publishing firm Weidenfeld and Nicolson in 1948. It was after the War too that he started collecting and this auction reveals his many interests – Old Master paintings, 20th century works on paper, furniture, sculpture and the decorative arts. His collection of books is left to the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem.

The dining room of Lord Weidenfeld’s Bennison decorated Chelsea apartment
© Christie’s Images Limited 2017

The setting for this very personal collection was Lord Weidenfeld’s Chelsea Embankment apartment which had been wonderfully decorated for him by the famous antique dealer and decorator Geoffrey Bennison and which remained virtually unchanged for over forty years!

Lot 569
A REPOUSSÉ PARCEL-GILT COPPER BUST OF POPE URBAN VIII
WORKSHOP OF GIAN LORENZO BERNINI, ROME, MID-17TH CENTURY
30 in. high, 24 in. wide, the bust and socle
Estimate: £30,000-50,000
© Christie’s Images Limited 2017

 

Lot 577
A REGENCY BRASS-INLAID INDIAN ROSEWOOD LIBRARY TABLE
CIRCA 1810-20, ATTRIBUTED TO GILLOWS
31.1/4 in. (79 cm.) high; 76.1/2 in. (194.5 cm.) wide; 48.1/2 in. (123.5 cm.) deep
Estimate: £40,000-60,000
© Christie’s Images Limited 2017

 

Lot 582
A LARGE CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE BALUSTER VASE FITTED AS A TABLE LAMP
19TH CENTURY
The porcelain, 17.1/4 in. (44 cm.) high
Estimate: £2,000-4,000
© Christie’s Images Limited 2017

 

 

 

 

http://www.christies.com

Fit for an 18th century dining table!

Four Private Collections – including a collection of ceramic handled cutlery, Stockspring Antiques, 114 Kensington Church St, London W8, 27th March – 4th April 2017

A boxed set of Worcester knives and forks c. 1758-60, in a ray skin covered standing box lined with crimson silk velvet and silver braid with twelve pairs of knives and forks, English steel blades of scimitar shape and three pronged forks with silver ferrules.

This exhibition comprises ceramics from four different private collections and includes Japanese and Worcester porcelains and a group of cane handles.  Of special note is the collection of more than seventy pieces of ceramic handled cutlery.  The majority of these are French and English but there are some interesting examples of Chinese and Continental porcelain too. They provide an exciting and fascinating guide to not only the changes in ceramic handle shapes but also the development and dating of the silver and steel fittings during the course of the 18th century.

A Bow knife and fork, painted in polychrome with the crest of Moses (Luis) Mendes, c. 1756, a merchant in the City of London.

www.antique-porcelain.co.uk 

The Palais Rose recalled

Boni de Castellane & Anna Gould, La Mémoire Du Palais Rose, Christie’s Paris, 9 avenue Matignon, 75008 Paris, 7th March 2017

GRAND SALON, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris ©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

GRAND SALON, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

This sale takes us back into the Belle Époque where Boniface de Castellane, known as Boni, was one of the more famous dandies of the time and regarded as a tastemaker.  In 1895 he married the American railway heiress Anna Gould and her substantial dowry allowed them the following year to start building the Grand Trianon inspired Palais Rose which was completed in 1902.  It became a major centre in Parisian social life where Kings, Queens and aristocracy were received. The house was sumptuously furnished with old master paintings and drawings, furniture and porcelain of the best quality.

LOT 19 NÉCESSAIRE DE BUREAU ART DÉCO « JARDIN JAPONAIS », PAR CARTIER Estimation : €1.000.000-1.500.000 AN ART DECO 'JARDIN JAPONAIS' DESK SET, BY CARTIER Mouvement no. 2968872 ©Christie’s Images Ltd, 2017

LOT 19
NÉCESSAIRE DE BUREAU ART DÉCO « JARDIN JAPONAIS », PAR CARTIER
Estimation : €1.000.000-1.500.000
AN ART DECO ‘JARDIN JAPONAIS’ DESK SET, BY CARTIER
Mouvement no. 2968872
©Christie’s Images Ltd, 2017

However this idyll was not long-lived for in early 1906 Anna filed for divorce with Boni’s extravagances and expenditure being a major cause. Some of their collections were disposed of after the divorce and more after Anna’s death in 1961.  Anna however did leave a mixture of wonderful things to her grand-daughter Diane de Castellane and she lived surrounded by these elegant pieces, including the group of Boulle furniture which so evocatively recalls the interiors, sadly not photographed for posterity, with the exception of the staircase and a fireplace of the Palais Rose.  The building was demolished in 1969 but its large Salon des Arts decorated with marble carvings celebrating the arts by Jean-Paul Aubé are remembered in the four tinted plaster preparatory studies which hung in the dining room of Diane de Castellane’s apartment.

SALLE À MANGER, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris ©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

SALLE À MANGER, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

I think you will agree with me that the photographs of the apartment show what a beautiful place it was, filled with great treasures and giving us a fascinating glimpse into a world gone by.

BIBLIOTHÈQUE, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris ©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

BIBLIOTHÈQUE, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

 

LOT 74 JEAN-HONORÉ FRAGONARD (GRASSE 1732-1806 PARIS) L’heureux ménage huile sur toile, circulaire Diam.: 34,2 cm. (12.3/4 in.) Estimation : €500.000-700.000 J.-H. FRAGONARD, THE HAPPY HOUSEHOLD, OIL ON CANVAS, CIRCULAR ©Christie’s Images Ltd, 2017

LOT 74
JEAN-HONORÉ FRAGONARD (GRASSE 1732-1806 PARIS)
L’heureux ménage
huile sur toile, circulaire
Diam.: 34,2 cm. (12.3/4 in.)
Estimation : €500.000-700.000
J.-H. FRAGONARD, THE HAPPY HOUSEHOLD, OIL ON CANVAS, CIRCULAR
©Christie’s Images Ltd, 2017

 

SALLE À MANGER, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris ©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

SALLE À MANGER, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRAND SALON, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris ©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

GRAND SALON, Diane de Castellane’s apartment rue d’Andigné, Paris
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

 

LOT 52 PAIRE DE "VASES" EN PORCELAINE TENDRE DE SEVRES DU XVIIIe SIECLE, A MONTURES EN BRONZE DORE CIRCA 1770, MARQUE EN CREUX P Hauteur totale: 44 cm. (17.3/8 in.) Estimation : €80.000-120.000 Provenance: Boni de Castellane et Anna Gould, Palais Rose, Paris A PAIR OF 18TH CENTURY SEVRES PORCELAIN "VASES", WITH ORMOLU MOUNTS ©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

LOT 52
PAIRE DE “VASES” EN PORCELAINE TENDRE DE SEVRES DU XVIIIe SIECLE, A MONTURES EN BRONZE DORE
CIRCA 1770, MARQUE EN CREUX P
Hauteur totale: 44 cm. (17.3/8 in.)
Estimation : €80.000-120.000
Provenance: Boni de Castellane et Anna Gould, Palais Rose, Paris
A PAIR OF 18TH CENTURY SEVRES PORCELAIN “VASES”, WITH ORMOLU MOUNTS
©Christie’s Images, Ltd, 2017

 

LOT 142 PAIRE DE MEUBLES À HAUTEUR D’APPUI DU DÉBUT DE L’ÉPOQUE LOUIS XVI ESTAMPILLE DE JEAN-LOUIS-FAIZELOT DELORME, VERS 1770-1780, RÉEMPLOYANT DES ÉLÉMENTS DE MARQUETERIE D’ÉPOQUE LOUIS XIV Estimation: €1.000.000-1.500.000 Provenance: Boni de Castellane et Anna Gould, Palais Rose, Paris. A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED TORTOISESHELL AND COPPER BOULLE MARQUETRY AND EBONY MEUBLES-A-HAUTEUR-D’APPUI STAMPED BY JEAN-LOUIS-FAIZELOT DELORME, CIRCA 1770-1780, REUSING SOME LOUIS XIV MARQUETRY ELEMENTS ©Christie’s Images Ltd, 2017

LOT 142
PAIRE DE MEUBLES À HAUTEUR D’APPUI
DU DÉBUT DE L’ÉPOQUE LOUIS XVI
ESTAMPILLE DE JEAN-LOUIS-FAIZELOT DELORME, VERS 1770-1780, RÉEMPLOYANT DES ÉLÉMENTS DE MARQUETERIE D’ÉPOQUE LOUIS XIV
Estimation: €1.000.000-1.500.000
Provenance: Boni de Castellane et Anna Gould, Palais Rose, Paris.
A PAIR OF LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED TORTOISESHELL AND COPPER BOULLE MARQUETRY AND EBONY MEUBLES-A-HAUTEUR-D’APPUI STAMPED BY JEAN-LOUIS-FAIZELOT DELORME, CIRCA 1770-1780, REUSING SOME LOUIS XIV MARQUETRY ELEMENTS
©Christie’s Images Ltd, 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

www.christies.com

Garnitures at the V&A

Garnitures: Vase Sets from National Trust Houses, V&A Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7, until 30th April 2017

Set of Chinese porcelain vases, 17th century, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Set of Chinese porcelain vases, 17th century,
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

This exhibition is a partnership between the National Trust and the V&A and is well worth visiting.

It consists of a mixture of ceramic and silver vases that truly do reflect the wealth and taste of their original owners in the 17th to 19th centuries when the garniture had its heyday. Garnitures usually consist of an odd number of vases which are united by their decoration and they would be displayed symmetrically on mantelpieces, on door cases and on the top of furniture.

Covered pot-pourri vase from Upton House, Warwickshire, soft-paste porcelain, 1762 – 64, Chelsea factory, London, England. © National Trust. Photograph Robert Morris

Covered pot-pourri vase from Upton House, Warwickshire, soft-paste porcelain, 1762 – 64, Chelsea factory, London, England.
© National Trust. Photograph Robert Morris

The first such sets were made up from pieces of Chinese porcelain in the 17thcentury but eventually they were made as sets in both China and Japan and of course from the 18th century onwards by British and European porcelain factories.  The decline in the popularity of garnitures meant that many were split up – a Sevres set from Upton House proves this point – and so complete sets are rare nowadays.

Three-piece ‘Hamilton’ vases from Saltram, Devon, about 1770 – 80, black basalt, Wedgwood and Bentley, Etruria, Staffordshire, England. © National Trust. Photograph Robert Morris

Three-piece ‘Hamilton’ vases from Saltram, Devon, about 1770 – 80, black basalt, Wedgwood and Bentley, Etruria, Staffordshire, England.
© National Trust. Photograph Robert Morris

The National Trust’s External Adviser on Ceramics, Patricia Ferguson, who has worked alongside the V&A’s senior curator Reino Liefkes, said: : “This display promises to change the way you see historic vases; they were almost always designed to be part of a set”.  She is also the author of the accompanying V&A and National Trust exhibition book: Garnitures: Vase Sets from National Trust Houses.

Five-piece chimney garniture from Blickling Hall, about 1804 – 7, soft-paste porcelain, Barr, Flight and Barr factory, Worcester, England. © National Trust. Photograph Robert Morris

Five-piece chimney garniture from Blickling Hall, about 1804 – 7, soft-paste porcelain, Barr, Flight and Barr factory, Worcester, England.
© National Trust. Photograph Robert Morris

vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/garnitures

Qizilbash Treasures

Treasures from the Prestigious Qizilbash Collection, Sotheby’s France, 76 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris, 28th November 2016 

A gilt-bronze mounted Chinese bleu céleste porcelain garniture composed of three pots-pourris, the porcelain Kangxi (1662-1722), the gilt-bronze Louis XV, circa 1765 -1770 Estimate: 1.000.000 – 2.000.000 € Photo credit: Sotheby’s / Art digital studio

A gilt-bronze mounted Chinese bleu céleste porcelain garniture composed of three pots-pourris, the porcelain Kangxi (1662-1722), the gilt-bronze Louis XV,
circa 1765 -1770
Estimate: 1.000.000 – 2.000.000 €
Photo credit: Sotheby’s / Art digital studio

There really is only one word to describe the collection of European works of art put together over the years by Hossein and Mariam Qizilbash and that is “prestigious”. The objects in this sale are undoubtedly of museum quality and reflect the exquisite taste of the Qizilbash’s.

These nine stars of 17th and 18th century European decorative arts were “created” by remarkable craftsmen in France, Britain, Italy, Germany and Holland.  Here is a selection for your delectation:

An enamelled gold book cover, Dutch circa 1640 Estimate: 40.000 – 60.00 € Photo credit: Sotheby’s / Art digital studio

An enamelled gold book cover, Dutch circa 1640
Estimate: 40.000 – 60.00 €
Photo credit: Sotheby’s / Art digital studio

 

A pair of silver and parcel-gilt figures of Apollo and Vulcan, Abraham Drentwett II, Augsburg Estimate: 60.000 – 80.000 € Photo credit: Sotheby’s / Art digital studio

A pair of silver and parcel-gilt figures of Apollo and Vulcan, Abraham Drentwett II, Augsburg
Estimate: 60.000 – 80.000 €
Photo credit: Sotheby’s / Art digital studio

 

A tortoiseshell, mother of pearl and gold piqué spinning wheel and distaff with gilt-bronze mounts, probably Naples, mid 18th century Estimate: 40.000 – 60.000 € Photo credit: Sotheby’s / Art digital studio

A tortoiseshell, mother of pearl and gold piqué spinning wheel and distaff with gilt-bronze mounts, probably Naples,
mid 18th century
Estimate: 40.000 – 60.000 €
Photo credit: Sotheby’s / Art digital studio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auction: Tuesday, 28th November, 2016 at 7.00 p.m.

Exhibition: 24th to 27th November 2016

A tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl and gold piqué rosewater ewer and basin, Naples, first half 18th century Estimate: 400.000 – 600.000 € Photo credit: Sotheby’s / Art digital studio

A tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl and gold piqué rosewater ewer and basin, Naples,
first half 18th century
Estimate: 400.000 – 600.000 €
Photo credit: Sotheby’s / Art digital studio

 

http://www.sothebys.com