Very Large Chinese Porcelain Jar and Cover with Deer and Cranes, Plate 1911

This is Plate 124 from Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, an original 1911 color plate of Chinese porcelain showing one of a pair of very large jars or vases and covers, shown on a tall gilt metal stand. On a white ground two deer stand in a fenced enclosure beneath a peach tree in flower and fruit, with a crane perched on the trunk looking at another outside the fence, amid rocks, peonies, birds and ling-chih. A very wide mosaic border with white panels of sacred objects runs on the shoulder and is repeated on the cover, which is surmounted by a gilt dog of Fu; the authors describe the palette as soft tints of red, blue, brown and green with Chinese ink and gold. Gorer and Blacker describe it as Kang-he period; height 4 feet 6 3/4 inches (139 cm) without the stand, diameter 1 foot 7 inches (48 cm).

The plate comes from Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, the two volume work that Edgar Gorer and J. F. Blacker published through Bernard Quaritch of 11 Grafton Street, New Bond Street, London, in 1911. Two hundred and fifty four full page plates were printed in color by a photo mechanical process, each one facing a page of letterpress in English and French that described the piece. The edition was limited to 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.

Each sheet shows a single piece or group photographed against a plain ground, at a consistent scale and format throughout the book, with the plate number printed in red below. The book's text, which faced each plate, gives the authors' description, the period they assigned and the collection the piece was in.

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.