Fashioned in the French taste, this exceptional example of bespoke mounting relates to the designs of the Vulliamy & Son workshop- the superlative quality and the delicate and iridescent finish of the gilding classic staples of the ormolu mounts at Harewood House, Yorkshire. The porcelain collection of the Earls of Harewood was considered one of the finest in England, and still includes a significant amount of ormolu-mounted Chinese porcelain, much of it displayed today as it was in the late-19th century in The Gallery, the glorious culmination to the parade of rooms on the piano nobile, designed by Robert Adam (1728-92) for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood (1713-95), in the mid-1760s. In the earliest guide book to Harewood House, dated 1819, John Jewell described this magnificent room as: ‘This room extends over the whole west end of the house, and is seventy-six feet six inches, by twenty-four feet three inches, twenty-one feet three inches high; it is truly elegant, and presents such a show of magnificence and art, as eye hath seldom seen, and words cannot describe’.

While not documented, it is likely the mount was commissioned by Edward, Viscount Lascelles (circa 1767-1814), the eldest son and heir of Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood (1740-1820). Known as 'Beau' for his physical resemblance to the Prince of Wales, his reputation as a collector was already recognised during his lifetime, with a contemporary diarist writing, 'Young Mr. Lascelles has a taste for the arts' (C. Kennedy, Harewood, The Life and Times of an English Country House, London, 1982, p. 124). ‘Beau’ Lascelles patronised the London antique dealer, Robert Fogg of Golden Square and Regent Street buying Chinese and Sèvres porcelain including, on 28 December 1807, ‘a pair of purple Enameld Jars Mounted’ for £42 (West Yorkshire Archive Service (WYAS), Ms. WYL250/acc4111). Fogg, who described himself as 'Chinaman to the Prince Regent' was one of the pre-eminent antique dealers of the Regency period. He supplied a number of prestigious clients, including, in 1822, George IV with two 12 foot Pagodas comprised of Chinese porcelain plaques at a cost of £420 for Brighton Pavilion, and in July 1814, the antiquarian, William Beckford (1760-1844), with 'sea-green bottles incredibly decorated with bronze'. In 1837, the diarist, Thomas Raikes (d. 1848) remarked upon the 'finest collection of old china in England' in the Hanover Square property of Lord Harewood that 'Fogg, the chinaman has in vain offered Lord Harewood immense sums' but which having belonged to ‘Beau’ Lascelles, was retained by the family as a souvenir of him (T. Raikes, A Portion of the Journal kept by Thomas Raikes from 1831-1847, vol. 3, p.184).

A further possibility is that this vase was acquired by the 1st Earl of Harewood, who was furnishing Harewood House in Yorkshire, seeing the furnishing of The Gallery to its completion, and Roxburghe House (later named Harewood House) in Hanover Square. There are entries in the 1st Earl's personal accounts that show that Fogg was supplying 'China Wares', including on 8 April 1801, 'To paid Fogg for Glass & China Wares' (WYAS, Ms. WYL250/3/Acs/190), and in 1810, the accounts reveal that the 1st Earl spent an astonishing £1,400 with Fogg (C. Kennedy, op.cit., p. 124).

The design and production of the ormolu mounts is attributed to the Pall Mall firm of Vulliamy & Son. The Vulliamy day books in the National Archives, Kew (TNA) show that both the 1st Earl and his son, the ‘Hon. Lord Lascelles’/‘Mr. Lascelles’, were important clients. An example of a Lascelles commission includes, on 21 June 1809, an entry for Edward Lascelles, ‘For mounting a pair of large baluster [celadon] China vases. Made very large elegant snake handles highly chased (remountable). Made very elegant metal feet with… moulding and deep’ and which remain in the Harewood collections (TNA, C 104/57/4). Robert Fogg was evidently employed by the Vulliamys to supply porcelain or drill holes in porcelain, presumably to enable the mounts designed and created by the firm to be attached to the porcelain body. While the porcelain no longer survives, the weight and dimensions of the present mount suggest it would have been of impressive scale.

Headed by the Royal Clockmaker Benjamin Vulliamy (1747-1811) with his eldest son, Benjamin Lewis (1780-1854) as junior partner, the Vulliamy firm began expanding their interests in the first decade of the 19th century into the production of a wide range of decorative objects in ormolu, bronze and marble. The acquisition of such objets de luxe in ormolu and bronze, previously focused on French centres of excellence, gained a new momentum during the 1770s and 80s with the challenge from Matthew Boulton and the Vulliamys to the dominance of French craftsmanship in this area of the decorative arts. These British makers continued to flourish into the 1800s since the traditional Parisian suppliers of luxury goods had been largely cut off by the Napoleonic wars in France.

These ornamental objects were usually designed by the Vulliamys themselves in the latest Empire or proto-Regency taste, drawing on their extensive library of art and architecture. They closely supervised the making of each object by the network of independent specialists already employed to manufacture their ornamental clocks and using the finest techniques and materials. The majority of customers for such articles were the nobility, led by the Prince of Wales, Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath at Woburn Abbey and as afore-mentioned, the Lascelles, father and son.

Comparable ormolu mounts by Vulliamy include those offered, The Harewood House sale; Christie's, London, 3 July, 1986, lot 43 (£48,600) and Harewood: Collecting in the Royal Tradition; Christie's, South Kensington, 5 & 9 December 2012, lot 521 & 523.