A pair of gilt-bronze-mounted Chinese celadon vases aux tritons, the mounts attributed to Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813) the mounts Louis XVI, circa 1770, the porcelain Qianlong (1736-1795)

each of baluster form and painted with blue bamboo, prunus blossom, and ju-i fungus, one with a pheonix, with a gadrooned gilt-bronze rim, each handle in the form of infant tritons with an entwined double fish tail suspended by laurel and berried swags, the base with a ribbon-tied bullrushes supported on the backs of four turtles, on a plinth cast with guilloche enclosing flowerheads

Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1808 -1879) at 148 Piccadilly, London (see fig.1).
Recorded in the division of property made after Baron Lionel de Rothschild's death (now in The Rothschild Archive) as going to Leopold de Rothschild: Anon., Division of the property of the late Baron Lionel de Rothschild between Sir Nathanial de Rothschild, Leopold de Rothschild, Esq. and Alfred de Rothschild, Esq.,1882, RAL 000 P/C/3 Box 3, No.3. p.108, A Pr Chinese vases mounted on turtles
By descent to his son Leopold de Rothschild  (1845-1917) at 5 Hamilton Place, London
By descent to his son Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942), at Exbury House, Exbury, Hampshire
By descent to Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009), at Exbury House, Exbury, Hampshire

Lionel Nathan de Rothschild :
Lionel Nathan de Rothschild was the second child and eldest son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777-1836) and Hannah Barnet Cohen (1783-1850). Lionel started working for the family banking firm in 1828 and spent two years in London with his father before transferring to Paris under the tutelage of his uncle, James. He was admitted to the family partnership in Frankfurt in 1836. When Nathan died in 1836, Lionel assumed head of the London house of NM Rothschild & Sons at the age of 28. 

Lionel took his seat as a member of Parliament in 1858.  After his marriage he lived in Charlotte Hill Street, sharing the Gunnesbury Park estate with his mother, which his father had bought in 1835.  He then bought a small farm at Ascott near Wing in 1858 and acquired Tring in 1872 and at the time of his death his estate in the Vale of Aylesbury amounted to approximately 10,000 acres.

148 PICCADILLY
148 Piccadilly was the central London home of Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1808-1879), which he built from 1859 to 1860 which was constructed by two English architects, Thomas Marsh and Charles Innes. 

From 1861, a certain Joyau was in charge of the decorators and not only were all the artists which he used French, e.g. sculptors, chair makers, designers but all the decorative materials came from France. Although the façade was Italian, the interior décor was French inspired by the décor of Louis XIV with a profusion of marble.  The interior decoration appears to have been executed according to plans of Duponchel in collaboration with Charles Chambon.  It housed Lionel's great art collection which he had started to develop during his apprenticeship years in Europe. The collection which was divided amongst his three sons after his death was dominated by Old Masters many acquired from the Van Loon collection. 

Lionel's collections were mainly formed during the thirty years or so preceeding the date of its construction and are mentioned by Waagen 'Art Treasures in Great Britain' (published 1854).

In overall very good original condition. The colour of the celadon is slightly deeper green and more vibrant and the gilding is more golden and much more attractive than in the catalogue photograph. The porcelain is in overall very good condition with a very minor hairline crack approx 4cm long running from the neck with an associated very minor chip. There is another horizontal crack just above the foot but this is hardly noticeable apporox 9cm. On the same vase there is possibly some very minor retouching to the white enamel on the prunus petals. There are also some very miniscule flakes on the white prunus approx 1mmx2mm on the same vase. There are also some very slight glaze flakes adjacent approx 3mmx3mm. There is some later blue painting over the white enamel. On the other vase the foot has been ground down on one side. On the same vase, there is a minor casting flaw in gilt-bronze hand of the putto on the left side which is hardly noticeable. The gilt-bronze mounts are of excellent quality with some very minor surface dirt as visible from the catalogue photograph but this can be left as it does not detract from the piece.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Daniel Alcouffe, Anne Dion-Tenenbaum, Gérard Mabille, Gilt bronzes in the Louvre, Dijon, 2004.
H. Ottomeyer/P. Proschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Vol. I, Munich, 1989, p. 230, fig. 4.1.11.
John Whitehead, The French Interior, 1992, London, p.158
.F. J. B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, Vol. II, p. 440, 248 A,B.
Gillian Wilson, Mounted Oriental Porcelain in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 1999, p.106.

This pair of elegant Chinese celadon vases with exquisite gilt-bronze mounts belongs to a group of related vases which were formerly or currently are in important Private Collections.

The Chinese Celadon:
Celadon has always been highly prized for its colour and these extremely rare vases, with the painted sprays of prunus, bamboo and ruyi are highly desirable amongst collectors. Gilt-bronze-mounted objects such as these were highly fashionable and sought after in the 18th century and often the vases and objects were imported from the Far East by the Parisan marchands-merciers such as Lazare-Duvaux and then mounted by the leading bronziers of the day, such as Pierre Gouthière and supplied to the French Court and members of the aristocracy. 

A similar pair of celadon porcelain vases was described in the catalogue of François Boucher's sale in 1771: `Deux vases de la Chine à bouquets bleu et blanc, montés chacun sur un pied composé de branchages de laurier entrelacés sur quatre tortues: un triton à chaque côtédu haut, portant le revers de la gorge et sotenant une guirlande de laurier, le tout bronze doré'.

The celadon pair above was sold to the celebrated marchand-mercier Pierre Remy for 360 livres and 5 sols. He organised the sale and is known to have particularly liked Chinese pieces.

One cannot state with certainty that the Boucher vases are the offered vases, as other examples with identical decoration correspond to the description of those in the Boucher sale: 

-an almost identical pair both in respect of the decoration of the porcelain and the gilt-bronze mounts is in the Riahi collection, illustrated by Franco Maria Ricci, La Collection Djahanguir Riahi, Milan, 1990, p. 218.

-another very similar pair characterized by similar motifs on the porcelain and identical triton mounts, swags and turtle feet, on a ribbed square plinth, sold Sotheby's New York, 19th November 1993, lot 19, reproduced here in fig. 3.

-a vase with tritons belonging to the Edouard Chappey collection (Georges Petit gallery, Paris, 27th-31st May 1907, lot 139), which could be the same as the second vase in the Riahi collection reproduced here in fig. 2;

-another vase, with sparser decoration on the celadon, identical triton mounts, but the base being characterized by the absence of the four turtles, originally in the Baroness Burton collection sold (Christie's London, 8th July 1965, lot 75).

Oriental porcelain commanded high prices when it was sold by the marchands-merciers to collectors, and even later made high prices at auction sales. For example, in the Gaignat sale in 1768, a single celadon vase with mounts fetched 2,489 livres (no. 91) and at the Randon de Boisset sale in 1777, two urns (no. 507) mounted in the rococo style made 6,001 livres. In 1782, over 7,500 livres was paid by Louis XVI for a pair of large celadon vases (no. 110), now in the Louvre, mounted in the neo-classical style by Gouthière.

These vase garnitures were designed so they formed sets comprising of two or three pieces. The design was not always the same from one vase to another; there can be prunus full of flowers or crysanthemums among bamboos and aquatic plants, such as water lilies. On some vases eg. the pair formerly in the Harewood's collection, there is a pheonix, also present on one of the offered vases. It is also worthwhile considering a pair of pot-pourri vases and covers with a green celadon ground decorated in blue and white with prunus blossom, pine and bamboo, with gilt-bronze rocaille mounts, in the Wrightsman Collection Catalogue, p. 440, nos 248, A,B:

On December 10th, 1754, Lazare Duvaux, the marchand-mercier, sold to Mme de Pompadour:

`Deux autres vases d'ancienne porcelaine verte à reliefs bleus, montés en bronze doré d'or moulu, 1,700 l. '(Livre-Journal, no. 1963). 

According to Watson, op. cit.,`The high price and the infrequent mention of this porcelain in the marchand-mercier's accounts suggests that it was rare and highly prized in the eighteenth century'.

Most celadons in the 18th century were believed to be of Japanese origin and were described in sales catalogues as `porcelaines d'ancien céladon du Japon'.

The gilt-bronze mounts:
The practise of mounting oriental porcelain in Europe dates back to the Middle Ages and according to Gillian Wilson, op. cit., `..during the eighteenth century the main reason for setting these oriental objects in mounts of European design was to naturalize them to the decoration of French interiors of the period; to modify their exotic character by giving them a quasi-French appearance'.

The infant triton mounts are of exceptional quality and beautifully chased and can safely be attributed to Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813), due to their similarity with other mounts on pieces known to be by him. Gouthière, an outstanding bronzier, who is believed to have invented the new type of bronze chasing that produced a matte finish on his pieces. He was one of the most influential craftsmen of the 18^th Century and his pieces was owned by duc d'Aumont (1709-1782), the duchesse de Mazarin (1736-1781), Madame du Barry and Marie-Antoinette.

Similar child triton mounts can be found on a pair of vasiform candelabra, attributed to Gouthière, in the J.P. Getty Museum, (72.DF.43.), illustrated by H. Ottomeyer/P. Proschel, op. cit., p. 230, fig. 4.1.11. Also see another identical gilt-bronze pair to the Getty pair, in the Musée du Louvre, Paris and there is a further pair in white marble also in the Louvre. A third pair is in the Jones Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum (970-1882).

A Chinese blue porcelain rouleaux vase with mounts by Pierre Gouthière, with infant satyr handles, is in the Getty Museum and illustrated by Wilson op. cit., p. 107. The casting and chasing of the mounts on the offered vases as on the Getty vase, are of very high quality and the matte gilding on the mounts is a typical finish given by Parisian bronziers during the 1780's. Its soft appearance contrasts with the reflective surface of the burnished areas.

Gouthière is known to have mounted a pair of bluish-purple ewers for the duc d'Aumont which were acquired in 1782 by Louis XVI at the sale after the duke's death. The mounts were similar to those on the Getty piece and contemporary descriptions of the d'Aumont's vases mention baby satyrs sat above the handles of the ewers which are now missing. The mounts on the Getty vase are attributed to Gouthière on the basis of comparison with the ewers. It therefore follows that our vases can also safely be attributed to Gouthière on the same basis. Wilson states op. cit., regarding the Getty vase, p. 108, that the mounts were perhaps designed by François-Joseph Bélanger (1744-1818), architect and designer to the duc d'Aumont. Gouthière and Bélanger collaborated for many years after their appointment by the duke to the Menus Plaisirs in 1767.

Also see a vase identical to the Getty one, with the infant tritons sold as lot 56, Christie's, London 13 June 2002, with a Provevance of Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1808- 1879), and by descent to his son Leopold de Rothschild (1845- 1917), thence by descent.

The turtle feet are also rarely found in the 18th century French decorative repertory of gilt-bronzes and the tritons and tortoises are emblematic of the Renaissance and were found on fountains, silver and statuary and revived by bronziers in the latter years of the 18th century. Therefore, the tortoise mounts may have been a special commission. The tortoise in Chinese decorative arts symbolizes steadfastness and immutability. Thus images of tortoises are placed on pillars and personal seals and used to support stone tablets carved with the edicts of emperors. Due to the tortoise's vault like shell is comparable to heaven and its flat underside to the earth, the animal is believed to conceal the secrets of the universe. It is regarded as one of the four divine animals, along with the dragon, phoenix and chimera. Turtles seem to possess an enviable and god-like resistance to ageing, and so they came to symbolize longevity.

Comparable decorated celadon vases sold at auction:

1. A pair from the collection of Mrs Corinna K. Kavenaugh, sold in these Rooms, 22nd November 1963, lot 11.

2. A garniture from the collection of Mrs Gaby Salomon, sold in these Rooms, 17th April 1964, lot 16.

3. Three vases sold in these Rooms, 17th May 1968, lot 42.

4. A garniture sold Sotheby's, New York, 7th May 1983, lot 66.

5. A single vase with pierced gilt-bronze banding and flanked by masks was sold Sotheby's, New York, 15th October 1983, lot 297.

6. A comparable pair with infants satyr mounts suspending laurel swags, was formerly in the collection of Mr. Cortright Wetherill, sold Sotheby's, New York, October 31st  1987, lot 18.

An almost identical pair of vases is illustrated by John Whitehead, The French Interior, 1992, p. 158.

Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813):
Admitted to the Corporation des Doreurs in 1758, appointed doreur seul ordinaire of the Menus Plaisirs, he was the greatest Parisian ciseleur-doreur of the Louis XVI period and also the inventor of the dorure au mat. His work is often associated with mantlepieces (see  two chimney-pieces executed for Madame du Barry at Fontainebleau 1771-2, now in Louis XVI's library at Versailles).The slowness in paying of his clients (which included the duc d' Aumont, Director of the Menus- Plaisirs and his daughter, la duchesse de Mazarin, the comte d' Artois at Bagatelle, the marchand-mercier Daguerre,) was one of the main causes which led him to bankruptcy in 1787 and little is known of his subsequent activity.