Famille Noire Cylindrical Vase from a Set of Four, Pheasant and Peony, 1911

Plate 1 of the 1911 book Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, an original color plate of Chinese porcelain, illustrates a tall cylindrical famille noire jar or vase, one of a set of four with black grounds. A pheasant stands on aubergine and green rocks rising from a bed of artemisia leaves, beneath peonies in iron red and white, guelder roses, yulan magnolia and lotus. The green enamel is noted for its iridescence. Gorer and Blacker describe it as Ming period and record it in the collection of P. A. B. Widener; height 27 inches (69 cm), diameter 9 inches (23 cm).

The sheet is a plate from Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, published by Bernard Quaritch in 1911, written by the London dealer Edgar Gorer with J. F. Blacker and printed in color by a photo mechanical process. The work ran to two volumes and two hundred and fifty four plates in an edition of one thousand numbered copies. The plates are color collotypes, and the book records that it was produced and printed by the Menpes Printing and Engraving Company of London and Watford.

In Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones every piece or group is given a whole page to itself, so each plate is a complete image on its own, set in a wide margin, with the printed plate number as the only lettering on the sheet.

Even age toning. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners complete. One larger brown mark.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.