FIRST HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY

Details

A LARGE BLUE AND WHITE 'SOLDIER' VASE
FIRST HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY
Stoutly potted and boldly painted around the body with pavilions and trees on and amidst islands scattered in a waterscape surrounded by a lotus scroll interspersed with phoenixes in flight, all framed within formalized ruyi-head-shaped borders between a diaper ground at the base and a lotus scroll beneath pendent ruyi heads along the slightly flared lip
43¼ in. (109.9 cm.) high

Lot Essay

This massive form, an extraordinary accomplishment of the Chinese potters and far beyond what any European factory was able to produce, was first made early in the 18th century. It took the name 'soldier vase' after the story of Frederick Augustus I (1670-1733), Elector of Saxony, King of Poland, avid collector of Chinese porcelain and founder of the Meissen factory, who traded a regiment of soldiers for a set of such vases.

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