CIRCA 1785

Details

A VERY LARGE PAIR OF EUROPEAN SUBJECT VASES AND COVERS
CIRCA 1785
Each decorated in sepia with Western landscape scenes of ships unloading at a riverbank, with similar vignettes on the sides and neck, the handles modeled as Chinese ladies
19 ½ in (49.5 cm) high

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Lot Essay

This form of vase became quite fashionable in the 1780s, usually decorated in the then-new variation on famille rose enamels featuring lots of rich purple and now called "Mandarin palette". Both the impressive size and the sepia shipping scenes on the present pair are quite unusual. The sepia palette reflects the more restrained neoclassical taste just coming in to fashion at the time.

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