A PAIR OF CHINESE EXPORT PISTOL-HANDLED URNS AND COVERS circa 1810-20

each painted on the front and reverse with a pair of pheasants amidst rocks against a gold ground within a gilt molded oval panel surrounded by a grapevine border repeated around the shoulder above an iron-red-ground border of gilt floral sprigs, both interrupted by the gilt handles at the sides, the body further decorated with gilt sprigs above a molded foliate collar and circular foot supported on an integral square base, the neck and cover rims with a blue enamel-ground border of gilt floral sprigs and the cover surmounted by a gilt fruit-basket knop. Each with one handle repaired, one with a hair crack on the neck, and both cover rims with restored chips.

Pair of pistol-handled urns and covers Minor wear to gilding of knops and handles, each with one handle restored One cover with restored chips around 3/4 of the edge with areas of touch ups along border One cover with filled chip under rim One urn with chip to corner of base, chip to interior rim, restored chip to interior rim One urn with restoration to a corner of the base, 2" haircrack to neck, glaze crack to side
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

These urns are an interesting variation of the standard model molded with a garland of husks pendent from the handles. The shape derives originally from the drawings and subsequent engravings of Stefano della Bella (1610-64), made largely while he was in the employ of Ferdinand de Medici in Florence, which were published in Raccolta di Vasi diversi, 1639-48 - in this instance, the form might have been taken from pl. 6, 1^st state. The della Bella designs were circulated widely in the mid 18^th century and inspired urn forms in bronze, silver and ceramics - notably at the Sèvres and Wedgwood factories, and even at the Marieberg faïence factory in Sweden. The form was being produced in black basaltes (a black stoneware, which when polished, closely resembles bronze) at several Staffordshire potteries, including Wedgwood, by the late 1760s, and it is most likely that it was a Wedgwood example that served as the original inspiration for this shape in Chinese export porcelain, which was made for the Portuguese and certainly the American markets from about 1790 through at least the 1820s.

An urn of this model with the same bird decoration within the panels, without the molded garlands, and with a so-called 'sybil' on the cover, a knop form often found on Wedgwood urns, was sold at Sotheby's in Monte Carlo on February 9, 1982, lot 1200.

Pistol-handled urns of the standard form with the molded garlands are illustrated by Beurdeley, p. 198, cat. 206; and by Phillips, p. 163, pl. 74 (right). Others of the type are illustrated by Hervouët and Bruneau, p. 227, no. 9.97; Howard and Ayers, Vol. II, p. 557, no. 575; Hyde, p. 90, pl. XVI, no. 56; Mudge, p. 133, pl. 200; Palmer, p. 64, fig. 32; and Veiga, p. 182, pl. 152, the example from the Jorge Getulio Veiga Collection, sold at Sotheby's in London on October 31, 1989, lot 186.