Freshness of a pot-pourri vase

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

On April 9, at the Galerie Charpentier, the showroom of Sotheby's in Paris was arranged as a luxurious castle interior, according to the practices of this auction house whose decoration is always very careful.

But that day, it is not a piece of furniture which made the top price. The hammer fell (if I dare this wording) at 2 M€ (before fees) on a pair of celadon Kangxi vases with Louis XV bronze mounting, which had been estimated 800 K€.

A similar scene can be repeated in London on July 8, again at Sotheby's, on a covered pot-pourri Qianlong vase mounted under Louis XV with gilded bronze. The press release emitted by Sotheby's on May 14 is particularly talkative concerning this lot, so there is need to await the catalogue before presenting it to you. The estimate of this mounted porcelain is announced as in excess of 1 M£.

This vase is dated to approximately 1745, which corresponds to the first years of the reign of Qianlong and to first half of the personal reign of Louis XV. The photograph gives an idea of the sumptuous aspect of this black and gold porcelain, with the decoration of flowers and foliages enhanced by gilded bronzes nicely carved. There is no doubt, it is an exceptional piece, being able to form pair with another vase currently in a museum of Berlin.

The porcelain of the Far East mounted with bronze or silver is a creation of the Parisian market of that time, one in the manners of promoting the luxury which were then invented by that corporation that one called the merchant-drapers (marchands-merciers). The Chinese black porcelain was another innovation of that time.

Large, luminous, sumptuous, this pot-pourri vase has very much to be liked, and the amateurs of great provenance will note that it had belonged to the Riahi collection.

So it is a great bidding in prospect.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

With £ 2.15 million including fees, our potpourri is slightly above the pair of vases that I had taken as a reference in my article. In both cases, the estimate was much lower.

At this price level, I think that the auction houses work very hard to convince buyers of the unique characteristics of the concerned lots. It must suffice that an important buyer is not convinced and then the object becomes harder to sell. The market for luxury furnishings is necessarily more selective than for furniture, the latter being better regulated by the models and stamps.

Here, Sotheby's had correctly considered that the piece was exceptional. It's good.