Giant Kang-he Beaker Vase with Plum Blossom and Birds, Plate 1911

An original antique color plate from Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, London, 1911, this sheet shows a beaker vase of giant size painted with a flowering plum tree on a white ground. Plum trunks rise from rocks in aubergine, blue and green, and red, gilt and green blossoms cover the body and neck. Two birds perch together on one side and two fly among the flowers on the other; there are no borders. Gorer and Blacker describe it as Kang-he period and record it in the collection formed by Richard Bennett; height 29 1/4 inches (74 cm), diameter 11 inches (28 cm).

This is one of the two hundred and fifty four color plates in Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, published in London by Bernard Quaritch in 1911 for Edgar Gorer and J. F. Blacker. The piece was photographed and the plate printed in color, so the glaze, the palette and the modeling of the original are carried over directly rather than interpreted by a draftsman. Each plate faced a page of description in English and French. 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.

Edgar Gorer (1872 to 1915) was a London dealer in Chinese art. He traded as S. Gorer and Son from 170 New Bond Street, opened a shop at 500 Fifth Avenue in New York, and sold to Sir William Lever, later Lord Leverhulme. He was lost on 7 May 1915 when the Lusitania was torpedoed.

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

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