Rare Berlin Lacquer Vase Ensemble

Berlin, Third Quarter of the 18th Century

Height of the lidded vase: 45,5 cm / 17,9 in
Height of the flute vases: 32 cm / 12,6 in

Blue Artemisia leaf marks on the base, label from Galerie Nicolas Fournery with numbering 511

Light gray earthenware with white glaze on the interior walls and bottom. Partially thick cold-painted decoration in red lacquer, white, yellow, blue, and manganese. The ensemble consists of a baluster vase with a high domed lid and Shishi, along with two flute vases. The ensemble closely resembles pieces listed in the referenced literature and is rarely found on the art market. Since the time of the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm (1640-1688), the Berlin court has been particularly fond of the China style, and examples of the tradition of lacquer painting can be traced in Berlin until the end of the 18th century.

Comparative Literature:

Dietmar Jürgen Ponert, Berlin Museum, Kunstgewerbe I - Keramik, Hafnerkeramik und Terracotta, Fayence, Porzellan, Berlin, 1985, pp. 36 ff, Cat. No. 24-25.

Otto von Falke, Altberliner Fayencen, Berlin, 1923, pp. 38f., Figs. 59f.

Konrad Hüseler, Deutsche Fayencen - Ein Handbuch der Fabriken ihrer Meister und Werke, 3 vols., Stuttgart 1956-1958, Fig. 376.

Winfried Baer, On the China Fashion in the Decorative Arts. Berlin Faience, in: China and Europe, Exhibition Catalog Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin 1973, p. 57.