Pair of Mounted Covered Vases

This vase was originally the lower section of a beaker or tsun-shaped vase that was severed below its bulging central section. The original piece was cut inside the foot rim to make a new opening, which is now the top of the vase. The lid originally belonged to a kuan-shaped jar that was cut, altered, and also probably inverted to suit a new purpose. The gilt-bronze mounts are attributed to the Parisian bronze caster Jean Godille, who is mentioned in the 1773 Almanach du Dauphin as “famous for his porcelain and other precious mounted vases.”

Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.

Sir John Fowler, Bart., London. His sale, Christie’s, London, June 9, 1899, Lot 270, bought by the London dealer Asher Wertheimer. E.M. Hodgkins, Paris. Duveen. Frick, 1918.

Source: Furniture in The Frick Collection: French 18th- & 19th-Century Furniture (Pt. 2) & Gilt Bronzes. Volume VI. New York: The Frick Collection, 1992.