Description:
One of a pair of Chinese export porcelain oval fluted, six-lobed bough pots decorated in blue and gilding on a pebbled surface with blue floral sprays highlighted with gilt and two large, gilt-edged shaped reserves in the 'Nanking' pattern with a water landscape with trees, house, pagoda, river, boat, and two flying birds. 18th century foreigners gave the term 'Nankeen' or 'Nanking,' the capital of Jiangsu Province on the China coast, to a finely decorated underglaze blue and white porcelain, which modern collectors call 'Nanking.' Although made in large quantities, these ceramics are generally well painted and highly detailed. American newspapter advertisements for porcelains sold in the late 18th and early 19th centuries often used the term 'nankeen'; since 'nankeen' did not always refer to one pattern, it may have been an indication of blue and white procelain of better quality. A garniture dated 1775-1785 owned by George and Martha Washington (now in the Smithsonian) has similar 'Nanking' landscape scenes. Bough pots, usually produced in pairs or as sets of three, became a popular mantlepiece ornament in the late 18th century. Removable porcelain inserts with five holes were placed inside the pot making it easier to arrange cut flowers or branches. According to Christiaan Jorg, Chinese bough pots rarely occur in European collections, but are more common in North and South America, testifying to the shift of the porcelain trade in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The pots have a gilt-edge rim, base and foot, and gilt-covered double strap handles; the conformingly-shaped inserts have five gilt-lined round holes.
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