Sunday, July 29, 2012

The Home Beautiful: A Lidded Chinese Urn, 1710-1730

Chinese Urn
Converted into a Chocolate Pot, 1710-1730
France
The Victoria & Albert Museum



This Chinese porcelain pot started out as a lidded jar or urn of an unknown creation date. Between 1710 and 1730, the piece was mounted with gilt bronze fittings and a stand to transform it into a chocolate or coffee pot. The style is classified, rather peculiarly, as “Chinese Imari.” This is sort of a misnomer since the Imari port from where such pieces were shipped is actually in Japan.

The Eighteenth-Century practice of taking Asian antiques and converting them into other objects was quite common in France and Britain. Very often, these porcelain pieces were altered drastically. Luckily, this one, adapted in France, didn’t suffer much change. However, in its present form, it’s quite a nice example of French Rococo taste. 






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