A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED CHINESE CELADON PORCELAIN CACHE POTS
A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED CHINESE CELADON PORCELAIN CACHE POTS
A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED CHINESE CELADON PORCELAIN CACHE POTS
2 More
A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED CHINESE CELADON PORCELAIN CACHE POTS
5 More
Please note lots marked with a square will be move… Read more
A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED CHINESE CELADON PORCELAIN CACHE POTS

THE PORCELAIN KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722), THE ORMOLU FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY

Details
A PAIR OF FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED CHINESE CELADON PORCELAIN CACHE POTS
THE PORCELAIN KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722), THE ORMOLU FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY
Each circular jardinière modeled in low relief with peonies, fitted with an ormolu rim chiseled with guilloche, the sides with ormolu handles above a satyr's mask and strap work, with printed and inscribed Ann and Gordon Getty Collection inventory label
9 3/4 in. (25 cm.) high, 14 1/4 in. (36.5 cm.) wide, over handles
Provenance
The Collection of Nellie Baillie, 2nd Baroness Burton (1873-1962), according to Partridge invoice.
The Collection of Michael Baillie, 3rd Baron Burton (1924-2013), according to Partridge invoice.
Acquired from Partridge, London, by Ann and Gordon Getty in 1986.
Exhibited
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, according to Partridge invoice.
Special notice
Please note lots marked with a square will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) on the last day of the sale. Lots are not available for collection at Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services until after the third business day following the sale. All lots will be stored free of charge for 30 days from the auction date at Christie’s Rockefeller Center or Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn). Operation hours for collection from either location are from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm, Monday-Friday. After 30 days from the auction date property may be moved at Christie’s discretion. Please contact Post-Sale Services to confirm the location of your property prior to collection. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn). Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information.

Brought to you by

Elizabeth Seigel
Elizabeth Seigel Vice President, Specialist, Head of Private and Iconic Collections

Lot Essay

With its combination of Chinese celadon porcelain and rich French ormolu, this pair of jardinières continues the centuries-old European tradition of decorating Asian porcelain with lavish gilt metal mounts. Its pinnacle came with the innovative, fantastical creations of the eighteenth-century French marchands-merciers who assembled objects de luxe such as inkwells, candelabra, brûle parfums and potpourri vases utilizing Asian porcelain set within elaborate ormolu mounts. Veritable diffuseurs of the best taste, the marchands-merciers became the only ones who possessed the ability to mount and sell these precious objects, most notably celadon porcelains, which was invented in China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907-960). It is characterized by a glaze that evokes the most beautiful of Chinese jades.
THE BARONS BURTON
The title of Baron Burton of Burton-on-Trent and of Rangemore was created in 1897 for Michael Arthur Bass (1837-1909), who had been a baronet since 1882. The Bass family had been known in the United Kingdom for their philanthropy and their wealth from their large breweries established in the late eighteenth century. Bass and his wife, Harriett Georgina Thornewill (1841-1931), had one daughter Nellie Lisa, the 2nd Baroness Burton, born in 1873. Baroness Burton first married James Evan Bruce Baillie in 1894 and later William Eugene Melles in 1932. Lady Burton was a leading English collector or porcelain and French furniture and resided in Chesterfield House, a superb Rococo palace built from 1746 by 1st Lord Chesterfield according to the designs of Isaac Ware. A series of photographs of the palace’s famous interiors were taken by Bedford Lemere circa 1910 showing the rooms overflowing with Lady Burton’s collection. Chesterfield House was demolished in 1937 and Lady Burton died childless twenty-five years later. Upon her death, the title of Baron Burton was passed down to Michael Baillie, 3rd Baron Burton.

More from The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection: Volume 4 | Chinese Works of Art, English and European Furniture and Decorative Arts, Day Sale

View All
View All