Mounted Vase

Maker Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (French, active from 1756 to the present)

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Dateca. 1770-1775

Mediumporcelain, gilt bronze, brass, steel

Dimensions17 3/4 x 11 3/4 x 10 in. (45.1 x 29.8 x 25.4 cm.)

DescriptionOne of a pair of lidded vases with an overglaze bleu nouveau ground. The vase is mounted with gilt bronze lions' heads, lions' pelts, and rings.

Markings13.19: 10 and $15,000 on paper label stuck on underside of lid. Under lid in crayon: 10(2)

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

On view

Label TextWith their glittering gilt-bronze mounts and costly Sèvres porcelain, these decorative vases are examples of the type of unusual and expensive goods retailed by specialist dealers in 18th-century Paris. Inside each vase is a gilt-bronze candelabrum on a short stem that rises when the lid is lifted, making the vase a functional objet de luxe. The fact that several versions of these vases were acquired by royal and noble patrons likely enhanced their attraction for the Huntingtons.

Object number13.20