TWO GIGANTIC "INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION" JAPONISME-STYLE EARTHENWARE VASES, the huge balustroid body with everting rim, gilt and painted in colours to imitate lacquerwork, with wooden handles painted with stars, comprising;

THE PROPERTY OF A LADY, BRUSSELS

Details

TWO GIGANTIC "INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION" JAPONISME-STYLE EARTHENWARE VASES, the huge balustroid body with everting rim, gilt and painted in colours to imitate lacquerwork, with wooden handles painted with stars, comprising;
One red-lacquered with various orientals amidst bamboo branches, lotus leaves and birds, further with females on terraces and pagodas
One dark-lacquered with a rooster and a hen in furious combat amidst floral branches and bamboo, further with a pair of Feng Hoangs or mythical birds, both on ebony tripod stands adorned with dragons and acanthus leaves
the vases 154 cm high
the stands 52 cm high
the global set 206 cm high
second half 19th Century (2)

Further details

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

Lot Essay

These gigantic japonisme vases were most certainly produced for one of the International Exhibitions in the second half of the 19th Century. e.g.: The Crystal Palace Exposition in London in 1851 and the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1855
The European superpowers were very interested in colonial adventures in the Far East and the European bourgeoisie was very keen on the artistic achievements of the Orient. This resulted in the creation of the Art Nouveau or Jugendstil style. These peculiar vases can be considered as an European attempt to emulate Far Eastern craftmanship

See illustration

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