A RARE PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE GOOSE TUREENS AND COVERS

QIANLONG PERIOD

Details

A RARE PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE GOOSE TUREENS AND COVERS
Qianlong period
Each naturalistically modelled swimming with his webbed feet tucked beneath him and his head head high and forward, his long, curved neck serving as a handle for the tureen cover, his breast glazed a mottled purple with plumage details molded throughout, the neck and upturned tail in sepia and gilt and his folded wings picked out in colorful famille rose enamels enriched in gilt
15¾in. (40cm.) high (2)

Provenance

Anon. sale, Sotheby's London, 20 June 1978, lot 141
A private South American collection

Lot Essay

Dining in wealthy households of the 18th century was a ceremonious business, with formal arrangements of foodstuffs piled high on sideboards and impressive centerpieces created for the amusement of diners. C.Hartop describes "...elaborate pies made in the form of ships which would perform a naval engagement at the table, complete with gunpowder charges..." (The Hugenot Legacy, pp. 25-6). Faience makers led the way in the 1740's and 50's with colorful animal-form tureens, and China traders soon followed. W.S. Sargent (op. cit., p. 202) reports that the VOC ordered 25 goose tureens in 1763 and nine more in 1764, while another order of 30 fell through because the supercargoes considered them too risky. Certainly these very large vessels, though wildly impractical, made a sumptuous display on the 18th century table

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