Two Long Necked Famille Verte Bottles with Lambrequins, Antique Plate 1911

Plate 121 of the 1911 book Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, an original color plate of Chinese porcelain, illustrates two long-necked famille verte bottles decorated with lambrequins on the body. The left bottle's lambrequins hold masks, rings and flowers on aubergine above butterflies and insects on white; the right bottle's alternate a chrysanthemum and a butterfly by a pomegranate on seeded green, over shou characters and swastikas. Gorer and Blacker describe them as Kang-he period and record them as from the collection formed by Richard Bennett, Esq., D.L.; height of each 17 1/2 inches (45 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.