Vase
Vases of this model: Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1878
Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs 1851-1939. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO April 14– August 19, 2012; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, October 13, 2012– February 24, 2013; New Orleans Museum of Art, April 12– August 4, 2013; Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina, September 9, 3013– January 19, 2014, hors. cat.
This vase represents a dynamic fusion of Asian and European styles. Evoking an ancient Chinese form, the vessel combines motifs such as Middle Eastern phoenixes, classical Greek key patterns, and Renaissance and Baroque designs. The vibrant metallic colors recall Japanese mixed-metal and lacquer work. These effects were achieved through an innovative electroplating process.
Sold Nineteenth Century Furniture, Sculpture, Porcelain and Decorative Objects, Christine’s, New York, March 7, 1996, lot 186 [1]
With H. Blairman & Sons, London;
Private collection, 1996-2012;
Purchased from H. Blairman & Sons by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, 2012.
NOTES:
[1] Lot 186 consisted of three objects, the pair of vases and a mantle clock, split up sometime after this sale; the museum owns the pair of vases.
Possibly, Lucien Falize. “L’orféverie et la bijouterie,” in Louise Gonse, ed. L'art moderne à l'Exposition de 1878 (Paris: A. Quantin, 1879), 316-318 (repro.).
Possibly, Victor Champier, ed., “Gazette universelle, expositions, œuvres nouvelles, faits divers, l'exposition industrielle de Bordeaux,” Revue de Arts Décoratifs, 3 (1882-1883): 122-128, unpaginated (repro.).
