A Celadon Pot Pourri Vase

A Louis XV gilt bronze-mounted Chinese bleu fleuri celadon
pot pourri vase and cover, circa 1730-1740

The porcelain Kangxi Period (1662-1722)

Height 15 ¼ in. (39 cm.) Width 9 ¾ in. (24.5 cm.) Diam. of base 7 ¾ in. (19.5 cm.)

Provenance

Sale Etude François de Ricqles, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 11 June 2001, lot 209 (FF520,591/€79,363)

Comparative Literature 

D.Alcouffe ed. La Folie d’Artois, Paris, L’Objet d’Art, 1988, pp. 194-195
P.Kjellberg, Objets montés du Moyen Age a nos jours, Paris, l’Edition de l’Amateur, 2000, p. 70

This vase is composed of the lower section of a yen yen vase and is decorated in underglaze blue and brown with scenes representing Daoist symbols of immortality: the pine tree on account of its longevity, the brown fungus (lingzhi) sprouting from its base and the deer nearby which was known for its ability to seek out the fabled mushroom.

A pair of nearly identically decorated and mounted vases was exhibited by Michel Meyer at the Folie d’Artois in 1988 (Alcouffe, op. cit.) and one of the pair is also illustrated in Kjellberg op. cit.