CIRCA 1770

The costly Chinese celadon porcelain and finely chased zoomorphic ormolu mounts of this vase reflect the radical evolution in style between the rococo and neoclassical periods in the third quarter of the 18th century. Vases of this scale and quality were commissioned and designed by the marchands merciers of Paris and then supplied to the leading and most fashionable patrons of art of the day. Comparable vases with identical mounts are testament to this; a single vase with blue Chinese porcelain in the Royal Collection (RCIN 86) was almost certainly supplied to the Prince Regent, later George IV, probably by the Parisian marchand Dominique Daguerre and formerly in the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. A further single vase with blue Chinese porcelain and identical mounts is in the collection at Waddesdon Manor and was formerly in the collection of the Dukes of Hamilton at Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire, (inv. 108.2003).