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Lot Essay
HAREWOOD HOUSE AND THE TASTE FOR CHINESE PORCELAIN
The porcelain collection of the Earls of Harewood was considered one of the finest in England, and still includes a significant amount of ormolu-mounted Chinese porcelain, now displayed in the Gallery at Harewood House, Yorkshire. An 1838 inventory 'List of China, Harewood House, London', that was later transferred to Yorkshire, reveals that among the house collections were 97 pieces of Chinese porcelain described as 'Green' or 'Mandarin' and 15 pieces of ormolu-mounted Chinese porcelain, including two sets of 'Three large Green Mandarin Jars with Ormolu mountings' in the 'Little Drawing Room' (WYAS, WYL250/3/Acs/519). These two superb vases belonged to this group, and were sold directly from Harewood at Christie’s in 1965. They can clearly be seen in an early 20th century photograph of The Gallery at Harewood, illustrated here. The Gallery was the glorious culmination to the parade of rooms on the piano nobile, designed by Robert Adam (1728-92) for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood (1713-95), in the mid-1760s, and as such it was the most impressive, displaying an ‘exceptional degree of costly enrichment’. In the earliest guide book to Harewood House, dated 1819, John Jewell described this magnificent room as:
‘This room extends over the whole west end of the house, and is seventy-six feet six inches, by twenty-four feet three inches, twenty-one feet three inches high; it is truly elegant, and presents such a show of magnificence and art, as eye hath seldom seen, and words cannot describe’.
Although it is not documented, it is likely that these vases were acquired by Edward, Viscount Lascelles (d. 1814), eldest son and heir of the 1st Earl. Known as 'Beau' for his physical resemblance to the Prince of Wales, his reputation as a collector was already recognized during his lifetime, when a contemporary diarist noted, 'Young Mr. Lascelles has a taste for the arts' (C. Kennedy, Harewood, The Life and Times of an English Country House, London, 1982, p. 124). Beau Lascelles patronized the London antique dealer, Robert Fogg of Golden Square and Regent Street, buying in 1807 a quantity of Sèvres wares and 'a pair of sea green China Jars' for the sum of £600 (Mary Mauchline, Harewood House, London, 1974, p.117). Fogg, who described himself as 'Chinaman to the Prince Regent', was among of the preeminent antique dealers of the Regency period, cultivating a roster of the era's most prestigious clients. These included George IV, to whom Fogg sold two 12-foot pagodas comprised of Chinese porcelain plaques for the Brighton Pavilion at a cost of £420, and the antiquarian William Beckford (d. 1844), who acquired 'sea-green bottles incredibly decorated with bronze' from Fogg in July 1814. In 1837, the diarist Thomas Raikes (d. 1848) remarked upon the 'finest collection of old china in England' in the Hanover Square property of Lord Harewood that 'Fogg, the chinaman has in vain offered Lord Harewood immense sums' but which having belonged to Beau Lascelles, was retained by the family as a souvenir of him (T. Raikes, A Portion of the Journal kept by Thomas Raikes from 1831-1847, vol. 3, p. 184).
A further possibility is that this vase was acquired by Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood (d. 1820) who was furnishing Harewood House and Roxburghe House (later also named Harewood House) in Hanover Square, London. Entries in the 1st Earl's personal accounts record that Fogg was supplying 'China Wares' (WYAS WYL250/3/Acs/190, 8 April 1801, 'To paid Fogg for Glass & China Wares'). Furthermore, in 1807, an invoice raised by Fogg for the 1st Earl lists a pair of 'Sea Green Vases with white rais'd flowers Mounted' for £168 (WYAS WYL250/acc4111). In 1810, the personal accounts show that the 1st Earl spent an impressive £1,400 with Fogg (C. Kennedy, op.cit., p. 124).
THE VASES
As much as the Aitken vases reflect the English collecting taste of the early nineteenth century, they embody even more the decorative taste of Paris in the mid-eighteenth century, when they were set into their magnificent ormolu mounts. The French practice of mounting Asian ceramics in European metalwork, recorded as early as the fourteenth century, took on a new life in the eighteenth century, as gilt bronze replaced silver as the preferred mounting medium, and mounts themselves took on new and more complex, sculptural forms. Just as the marchand-merciers of Paris were responsible for the supply of Asian porcelain to their networks of clients, so too did they maintain close networks within the guilds of bronze casters and chasers (fondeurs-ciseleurs) and gilders (doreurs), who could produce mounts to enrich their wares. By framing the precious Chinese porcelain in sumptuous gilt-bronze, these craftsmen transformed them into entirely new objects, aligning them with the latest tastes of the era's most elite collectors. As Carolyn Sargentson notes, the practice of mounting porcelains allowed them to move beyond being seen as foreign novelties, integrating them instead into “the French canon of good design and craftsmanship” (C. Sargentson, Merchants and Luxury Markets, London, 1996, p. 62).
The two present spectacular vases from Harewood shed a fascinating light on the practices of the Parisian marchand-merciers. The gilt bronzes clearly originate from the same workshop, but each has been cleverly adapted to the unique contours of its specific Chinese porcelain vase. A close inspection has also revealed the strong possibility that the base of the taller vase was cast from the base of the other, suggesting that the smaller of the two vases, was supplied first. This invites us to speculate either that the same, or another, client requested a further mounted vase of the same design, for which the mounts then had to be adapted to accommodate a related, but different porcelain shape—demonstrating all the more the ingenuity of the marchand-merciers.
The mounts of each vase, with their distinctively asymmetrically pierced bases and elaborate scrolling handles, form part of a distinct group of mounted vases from an as yet unidentified workshop. Other examples include a vase with virtually identical base and body of powder-blue porcelain, sold Christie’s, New York, 12 December 2024, lot 50 ($201,600) and a vase in crackle-glazed porcelain with companion ewers in the Louvre Museum, Paris (illustrated in D. Alcouffe, Gilt Bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004, pp. 91-93, cat. 41-42). It is also interesting to note a further related vase in crackle-glazed porcelain, with similar high arching handles, illustrated in the celebrated Saxe-Teschen album, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (F. Watson, Mounted Oriental Porcelain, Washington, 1986, p. 126) which is thought to have been created as a presentation album from the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre either to showcase works of art already in the collection of the Duke and Archduchess of Saxe-Teschen or to provide an illustrated offering of pieces available in his stock. The album combines pieces in the latest Neoclassical fashion with others in the earlier Louis XV pittoresque style, showing that such richly mounted vases clearly remained in favor with sophisticated collectors, even in the 1780s.
The porcelain collection of the Earls of Harewood was considered one of the finest in England, and still includes a significant amount of ormolu-mounted Chinese porcelain, now displayed in the Gallery at Harewood House, Yorkshire. An 1838 inventory 'List of China, Harewood House, London', that was later transferred to Yorkshire, reveals that among the house collections were 97 pieces of Chinese porcelain described as 'Green' or 'Mandarin' and 15 pieces of ormolu-mounted Chinese porcelain, including two sets of 'Three large Green Mandarin Jars with Ormolu mountings' in the 'Little Drawing Room' (WYAS, WYL250/3/Acs/519). These two superb vases belonged to this group, and were sold directly from Harewood at Christie’s in 1965. They can clearly be seen in an early 20th century photograph of The Gallery at Harewood, illustrated here. The Gallery was the glorious culmination to the parade of rooms on the piano nobile, designed by Robert Adam (1728-92) for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood (1713-95), in the mid-1760s, and as such it was the most impressive, displaying an ‘exceptional degree of costly enrichment’. In the earliest guide book to Harewood House, dated 1819, John Jewell described this magnificent room as:
‘This room extends over the whole west end of the house, and is seventy-six feet six inches, by twenty-four feet three inches, twenty-one feet three inches high; it is truly elegant, and presents such a show of magnificence and art, as eye hath seldom seen, and words cannot describe’.
Although it is not documented, it is likely that these vases were acquired by Edward, Viscount Lascelles (d. 1814), eldest son and heir of the 1st Earl. Known as 'Beau' for his physical resemblance to the Prince of Wales, his reputation as a collector was already recognized during his lifetime, when a contemporary diarist noted, 'Young Mr. Lascelles has a taste for the arts' (C. Kennedy, Harewood, The Life and Times of an English Country House, London, 1982, p. 124). Beau Lascelles patronized the London antique dealer, Robert Fogg of Golden Square and Regent Street, buying in 1807 a quantity of Sèvres wares and 'a pair of sea green China Jars' for the sum of £600 (Mary Mauchline, Harewood House, London, 1974, p.117). Fogg, who described himself as 'Chinaman to the Prince Regent', was among of the preeminent antique dealers of the Regency period, cultivating a roster of the era's most prestigious clients. These included George IV, to whom Fogg sold two 12-foot pagodas comprised of Chinese porcelain plaques for the Brighton Pavilion at a cost of £420, and the antiquarian William Beckford (d. 1844), who acquired 'sea-green bottles incredibly decorated with bronze' from Fogg in July 1814. In 1837, the diarist Thomas Raikes (d. 1848) remarked upon the 'finest collection of old china in England' in the Hanover Square property of Lord Harewood that 'Fogg, the chinaman has in vain offered Lord Harewood immense sums' but which having belonged to Beau Lascelles, was retained by the family as a souvenir of him (T. Raikes, A Portion of the Journal kept by Thomas Raikes from 1831-1847, vol. 3, p. 184).
A further possibility is that this vase was acquired by Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood (d. 1820) who was furnishing Harewood House and Roxburghe House (later also named Harewood House) in Hanover Square, London. Entries in the 1st Earl's personal accounts record that Fogg was supplying 'China Wares' (WYAS WYL250/3/Acs/190, 8 April 1801, 'To paid Fogg for Glass & China Wares'). Furthermore, in 1807, an invoice raised by Fogg for the 1st Earl lists a pair of 'Sea Green Vases with white rais'd flowers Mounted' for £168 (WYAS WYL250/acc4111). In 1810, the personal accounts show that the 1st Earl spent an impressive £1,400 with Fogg (C. Kennedy, op.cit., p. 124).
THE VASES
As much as the Aitken vases reflect the English collecting taste of the early nineteenth century, they embody even more the decorative taste of Paris in the mid-eighteenth century, when they were set into their magnificent ormolu mounts. The French practice of mounting Asian ceramics in European metalwork, recorded as early as the fourteenth century, took on a new life in the eighteenth century, as gilt bronze replaced silver as the preferred mounting medium, and mounts themselves took on new and more complex, sculptural forms. Just as the marchand-merciers of Paris were responsible for the supply of Asian porcelain to their networks of clients, so too did they maintain close networks within the guilds of bronze casters and chasers (fondeurs-ciseleurs) and gilders (doreurs), who could produce mounts to enrich their wares. By framing the precious Chinese porcelain in sumptuous gilt-bronze, these craftsmen transformed them into entirely new objects, aligning them with the latest tastes of the era's most elite collectors. As Carolyn Sargentson notes, the practice of mounting porcelains allowed them to move beyond being seen as foreign novelties, integrating them instead into “the French canon of good design and craftsmanship” (C. Sargentson, Merchants and Luxury Markets, London, 1996, p. 62).
The two present spectacular vases from Harewood shed a fascinating light on the practices of the Parisian marchand-merciers. The gilt bronzes clearly originate from the same workshop, but each has been cleverly adapted to the unique contours of its specific Chinese porcelain vase. A close inspection has also revealed the strong possibility that the base of the taller vase was cast from the base of the other, suggesting that the smaller of the two vases, was supplied first. This invites us to speculate either that the same, or another, client requested a further mounted vase of the same design, for which the mounts then had to be adapted to accommodate a related, but different porcelain shape—demonstrating all the more the ingenuity of the marchand-merciers.
The mounts of each vase, with their distinctively asymmetrically pierced bases and elaborate scrolling handles, form part of a distinct group of mounted vases from an as yet unidentified workshop. Other examples include a vase with virtually identical base and body of powder-blue porcelain, sold Christie’s, New York, 12 December 2024, lot 50 ($201,600) and a vase in crackle-glazed porcelain with companion ewers in the Louvre Museum, Paris (illustrated in D. Alcouffe, Gilt Bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004, pp. 91-93, cat. 41-42). It is also interesting to note a further related vase in crackle-glazed porcelain, with similar high arching handles, illustrated in the celebrated Saxe-Teschen album, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (F. Watson, Mounted Oriental Porcelain, Washington, 1986, p. 126) which is thought to have been created as a presentation album from the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre either to showcase works of art already in the collection of the Duke and Archduchess of Saxe-Teschen or to provide an illustrated offering of pieces available in his stock. The album combines pieces in the latest Neoclassical fashion with others in the earlier Louis XV pittoresque style, showing that such richly mounted vases clearly remained in favor with sophisticated collectors, even in the 1780s.