QIANLONG (1736-95)

Details

A PAIR OF RARE FAMILLE ROSE 'MADAME DE POMPADOUR' CACHE-POTS
QIANLONG (1736-95)
Of cylindrical shape applied with scallop handles, each enamelled with two eagles and two fish within feathery foliage below lotus seed pods, lychee, peony and other fruiting and flowering stems, the beaded rim with a dental border, some restoration to handles and rim chips
9¾ in. (24.8 cm.) wide (2)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Sale room notice

Please note both cache-pots have been in two and restored.

Lot Essay

Although two famille rose services and a blue and white service with this pattern, have been thought to have been made for Madame de Pompadour, since her maiden name was Poisson (fish) and the eagle would have represented her husband, King Louis XV, there is no evidence that this is so, and indeed much doubt that Madame de Pompadour would have drawn attention to her bourgeois family name in this way. However, the palettes used in the enamelled services were particularly popular in France during this time, suggesting that it was a French order, and owing to the extensive range of rare and unique forms in addition to those normally found in services, it was probably a private order of considerable importance. For a discussion on these services, see Howard and Ayers, China for the West, vol.II, London and New York, 1978, p.443, no. 449, where a plate from the Mottahedeh Collection is illustrated.

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