THE ORMOLU CIRCA 1710, THE PORCELAIN MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)

These charming and rare vases, with their subtle ribbed Ming porcelain bodies, date from the earliest phase of the taste for mounting precious celadon porcelains in gilt bronze mounts, during the late Louis XIV and Régence periods, and thus relate closely to the earlier silver-mounted wares of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The distinctive dolphin feet, hooked stretcher, dragon handles and pendant shells to the base rim relate them to a small group with these features, including a white Dehua vase in the British Royal Collection (RCIN 100989; illustrated in J. Ayers, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of her Majesty the Queen, London, 2016, vol. I, cat. 169, pp. 82-83) as well as a famille verte vase mounted as a fountain (illustrated in G. Wannenes, Objets Montés, Milan, 2004, p. 97).

In light of the period when these items were created, it is tempting to link the prominent imagery of dolphins to the Grand Dauphin, heir to the throne of Louis XIV and an avid collector, who ranked among one of Boulle’s most significant clients. However, given the lack of any firm documentary evidence, although clearly emanating from the same workshop, it may be more likely that they were instead created as an homage to the Dauphin, who died just before his father in 1711. Interestingly, a similarly mounted vase, but in red, blue and white porcelain, features in a 1741 portrait Jacques-André-Joseph Aved of Madame Antoine Crozat, marquise du Châtel, now in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier (see Ayers op. cit., p. 83).