A PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE 'PORCELAIN PRODUCTION' FISHBOWLS

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PROPERTY OF A NEW ENGLAND COLLECTOR (LOT 729) The following lots were descended from George Widener (1861-1912), who perished in the Titanic with his older son Harry. Widener was heir to the fortune amassed by his father P. A. B. Widener, who assembled one of the most important Gilded Age collections of Old Master paintings and decorative arts in his palatial mansion, Lynnewood Hall, outside of Philadelphia. Over 2,000 pieces from his collection were donated to the National Gallery of Art in 1940. George's younger son, George D. Widener, was also a significant collector, and bequeathed numerous magnificent objects to the Philadelphia Museum of Art including the spectacular mahogany commode by Thomas Chippendale from Raynham Park, Norfolk (C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. I, p. 289).

A PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE 'PORCELAIN PRODUCTION' FISHBOWLS

19TH CENTURY, PROBABLY SAMSON ET CIE

Details

A PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE 'PORCELAIN PRODUCTION' FISHBOWLS
19TH CENTURY, PROBABLY SAMSON ET CIE
Each finely enameled with scenes of Chinese porcelain production, with mask handles to each side, between colorful borders and below delicate sprays of spring flowers on the neck, the everted rim painted in tones of iron-red with lotus blooming on scrolling tendrils
23½ in. (59.5 cm.) diameter (2)

Provenance

Acquired in Lisbon in the 1970s.

Lot Essay

The rare decoration of this pair shows us highly romanticized views of different stages of Chinese porcelain manufacture that would have actually occurred at different times. Individual steps of the process are shown much as they were in the well-known Chinese watercolor albums made for export. Samson et Cie, founded in Paris in 1845, specialized in reproductions of European and Chinese ceramics. Their 19th century famille rose and verte production was particularly high quality.

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