Famille Verte Beakers, Bottles and Shou Lao, Two Kang-he Plates, 1911

This is a set of two original 1911 color plates, Plates 177 and 178 from Volume II of Gorer and Blacker's Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, sold together as one lot. What links them: famille verte beakers, bottles and a figure. Plate 177: Pair of beakers. Rare grounds of pencilled rouge de fer, separated by a middle band decorated with yellow rice diaper outlined in black spotted with green, and charged with pomegranates and persimmon in rouge de fer with green foliage; the neck, in scale pattern rouge de fer. Aubergine, green, blue, etc., give an uncommon tint of purple. The book gives it to the Kang-he period and records height 13 1/2 inches (34.3 cm); diameter 7 1/4 inches (18.4 cm). In the collection of A. E. Cumberbatch, Esq. Plate 178: Group of two bottles and a figure. The pair of globular bottles have the bodies covered with a trellis design in green and yellow outlined in black, enclosing four large panels bordered with fillets in aubergine, green, and white, containing alternately kilins and altar utensils, each white reserve containing a tiny red flower. The figure shows Shou Lao, the deified Lao Tzu, with his ju-i sceptre set with two effulgent jewels; the god of longevity is seated, the white parts in biscuit. The book gives it to the Kang-he period and records height 8 inches (20 cm); diameter 4 3/8 inches (11 cm), the book giving a size for each piece shown. From the collection formed by Sir William Bennett.

They were published in 1911 by Bernard Quaritch of New Bond Street, London, in Edgar Gorer and J. F. Blacker's Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, a work of two volumes and two hundred and fifty four color plates limited to one thousand numbered copies. The plates are color collotypes, a photographic process that reproduces continuous tone without a visible dot screen, which is why the glazes keep their depth on paper.

The volumes were produced as a record of pieces Gorer handled or admired, and the plates were made with unusual care for the period. A century later they survive as some of the best color images of early twentieth century taste in Chinese ceramics and hard stones.

A sheet of this size frames well at about forty by fifty centimeters and suits a study, a hallway or a dining room where its color can be seen close to. The two sheets are the same size and were printed by the same hand, so they hang as one group.

These are original antique prints, not modern reproductions. They are two original sheets sold together as one lot, and the set is never split.

Even age toning throughout. Light foxing in the margins of both sheets. Slight wear at the corners of both sheets.