THE QING DYNASTY PORCELAIN EARLY 19TH CENTURY, THE ORMOLU MOUNTS THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

This pair of ewers is inspired by a small group of similar vessels that combined exotic Chinese porcelains with dragon-mounted ormolu handles. Interestingly Gabriel de Saint-Aubin drew a ewer of very similar design into the margins of the Louis-Jean Gaignat sale catalogue of 14 February 1769, and the pair of ewers he illustrated are likely the same which eventually sold from The Collections of Lily & Edmond J. Safra, Sotheby's, New York, 3-4 November 2005, lot 130 ($1,248,000).Surviving examples of similar form from the 18th century include a pair of ormolu-mounted Kangxi vases surmounted by dragons, originally from the Duc d'Aumont collection, and a garniture incorporating very similar crackle grey celadon porcelain in the Louvre (D. Alcouffe, et al., Gilt bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004, cats. 40 - 42, pp. 89 - 93). Most recently, a very similar pair of Louis XV ewers formerly in the collection of Gregory de Ligne Gregory at Harlaxton Manor sold Christie's, London, 5 July 2012, lot 11.