A pair of gilt-bronze-mounted Chinese green celadon cache-pots Louis XV, mid 18th century, the porcelain Kangxi (1662-1772)

each of ovoid form decorated with raised flower and stylised leaf decoration mounted with a scroll and stylised leaf cast rim and two foliate and flower cast scrolled handles, on a pierced scroll and rocaille base, one with the label Wernher /448

Sir Julius Wernher, Bt. (d.1912), in the Drawing Room, Bath House, Piccadilly, photographed in situ, reproduced here in fig. 1.
Thence by descent at Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire, reproduced here in fig. 2.
Christie's London, 9th June 1994, lot 33
Partridge Fine Arts, London

 

Good colour match of the bronzes with the catalogue illustration on p. 75. There is a minor area of resoldering under an acanthus scroll on the base of one, and the screws attaching an acanthus spray to the bases of both have not been gilded. There are some minor firing flaws generally but these do not detract from the piece and are quite usual. On one, there is a slight gap where the floral spray on top of the handles does not join the foliate section, so part of the screw is visible and needs tightening. There is a slight gap and minor loss between the gilt-bronze collar and the gilt-bronze rim on one. Beautiful original gilding. In excellent condition.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Gordon Nares, Luton Hoo and the Wernher Collection ,Country Life , 5^th May 1950, pp. 1282-1285.
D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Chinesisches und Japanisches Porzellan in Europeischen Fassungen, Braunschweig, 1980, p. 323, no. 304. 
Sir Francis Watson, Mounted Oriental Porcelain, Washington, 1986, p. 64, no.18.
F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, Vo. II, 1966, MMA, New York, cat. no. 252.
Kristal Smertek, Rococo Exotic: French mounted porcelain and the allure of the East, New York, 2007, p.9.

The rarity of these cache-pots which distinguishes them from other related gilt-bronze-mounted celadon bowls is that they were never intended to have covers to form pot-pourris vases. This is evident from not only the way the Chinese porcelain has been cut down but also due to the casting of the internal surface of the rim mount.

A closely related pair of vases with similar foliate cast mounts is in the J. Paul Getty Museum,see Sir Francis Watson, Mounted Oriental Porcelain, Washington, 1986, p. 64, no.18. Also see F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, op. cit., cat. no. 252, for related rim mounts on a pair of vases. 

The identical Chinese green celadon pot-pourri vase (with its cover and thus the centrepiece of what was originally conceived as a garniture) was offered at the same sale as the present pair of cache-pots by the Trustees of the Luton Hoo Foundation, Christie's London, 9th  June 1994, lot 32.

A further vase with a closely related scroll base and foliate handles was sold by Julian Bying, Christie's London, 10th  June 1993, lot 100. The Collis Potter Huntington Memorial Collection in the Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco has another related gilt-bronze-mounted celadon vase with similar base and handle mounts,  see D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, op. cit., 1980, p. 323, no. 304, reproduced here in fig. 3.

`The French do not have any aversion for foreign culture, which they adopt easily, but the thing is they like to add or remove things to it, that's what we call `le gout francais", thus wrote Jean Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens, in his Chinese Letters, between 1739 and 1740, according to Simon, op. cit., p. 105.

This comment perfectly encapsulates the history of the fashion for mounted porcelain in France. The enthusiasm for this type of exotic porcelain commenced with the various "Compagnie des Indes" which, from the 17th century onwards, traded with the Orient in all manner of luxurious Oriental ware which so inspired the Parisian marchands-merciers who were driven to supply their illustrious clientèle with the latest fashion and novelties such as gilt-bronze-mounted objects.  As soon as the Oriental ware arrived in Europe, the rarest pieces were cut, carved or even associated, before being applied with gilt-bronze mounts.

Gilt-bronze-mounted porcelain was at the  pinnacle of fashion during the 1750's. It was mainly the marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux who supplied such pots-pourris and numerous commissions are recorded such as deux pots pourris celadon, montés en bronze doré d'or moulu, 288 livres for the Comtesse de Bentleim on 15th December 1756.

Celadon porcelain, also sometimes called greenware, has an olive green feldspathic glaze, obtained through the high-firing (minimum 1.200C) of iron oxides which are applied directly onto the earthenware body. Chinese Celadon is usually classified in two types: Northern and Southern Celadon. Northern celadon was mainly made during the Song dynasty, but not after that when its capital moved South in 1127, and does not seem to have been exported. Southern celadon was made throughout the Song dynasty and later. This type of celadon was widely exported and thus is mainly the one found in European gilt-bronze mounted objects, such as the present pair of cache-pots. The relief under-glaze decoration was mainly achieved by incising the earthenware body with a knife or (later) by impressing it with stamps. For more information on celadon-ware, see G.S.G.M. Gompertz, Celadon Wares, London, 1968.

Sir Julius Wernher (1850-1912) (fig.4):
He was originally by profession a diamond magnate and in turn became a celebrated philanthropist and adviser to Royalty.  His wife Alice, nee Sedgwick Mankiewicz (1862-1945), a leading hostess and patron of the arts expanded their collection.The art collection formed by Sir Julius Wernher and later his son Sir Harold Wernher ranks amongst the most outstanding ever formed in England due to its diversity. Furthermore, Sir Julius's son, Sir Harold Wernher (1893-1973), further expanded the collection, assisted by his wife, Lady Zia (1892-1977), a member of the Russian Royal family and a direct descendant of the poet Alexander Pushkin. (see fig. 5).
Sir Julius Wernher was  born in Darmstadt, Germany and went to London and Paris to train as a banker. In Paris, he met Jules Porgès, a leading diamond dealer and at the tender age of twenty-one, became his agent. Sir Julius quickly established a reputation as an astute diamond trader in the Cape. It was mainly due to the latter's efforts that the firm of Jules Porgès had become the largest single importer of South African diamonds into London and Sir Julius was made a partner whilst still in his 20's and succeeded Porgès when he retired in 1890 as head of the company. Other partnerships in diamond mining ensued and in 1898, he was made Life Governor of De Beers and upon his death in 1912, the Times of London described him as `one of the greatest financial geniuses of our time' and his will was reputedly at the time the largest ever recorded at Somerset House.
Sir Julius was a renaissance man with many interests but his greatest passion was the fine and decorative arts. The works at Bath House and Luton Hoo placed Sir Julius amongst the foremost architectural patrons of his day. His interests were wide-ranging and he collected old master paintings, bronzes, enamels, ivories, jewellery, silver; porcelain, tapestries and furniture; early maiolica, German stoneware, Turkish pottery, and Hispano-Moresque ceramics. The paintings also included outstanding works by Titian and Rubens, Watteau and Memling, Wouwerman and de Rooch. Buying at auction, Sir Julius participated in the excitement of such celebrated sales as those of the Duc de Dino, Beresford-Rope, and Friedrich Spitzer. Furthermore, he was an important client to some of Europe's foremost dealers, among them Duveen, Colnaghi, Agnew, Seligman, and Sedelmeyer. Sir Julius took expert advice from the eminent art historian Dr. Wilhelm Bode, Director-General of the Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm Museum in Berlin when forming his collection.

Bath House, Piccadilly:
Baron Maurice de Hirsch, the previous owner died in 1895, whereupon Sir Julius acquired Bath House, which was a substantial London mansion in Piccadilly. He altered it with the assistance of  of the leading French decorator Georges Hoentschel, who was also employed at the British Embassy in Paris. There he created luxurious interiors inspired by the great 18th century hôtels particuliers of Paris.

Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire:
Can there be any higher accolade for a house than that given on  a balmy day in June by Dr Johnson when he and Boswell, visited Luton Hoo, the house met with his approval as did the pictures which were `beyond expectation, beyond hope'. The house was designed  by Robert Adam for the 3^rd Earl of Bute, George III's unpopular Prime Minister, who purchased the property in 1762. The brick mansion on the site was altered and rebuilt in the Classic style with gardens landscaped by Capability Brown and was considered one of England's greatest architectural masterpieces. Robert Adam himself described the building as perhaps his finest "...both in point of elegance and contrivance".
In 1843, the house was gutted by fire and the shell was sold by the Butes to John Shaw Leigh whose Trustees in turn sold it in 1902 to Sir Julius Wernher, the house was remodelled and enlarged turning it into one of the garndest stately homes of the Edwardian period. The architects were Mewès and Davis, the Anglo-French partnership, whose style was in the monumental classicism of the Louis XVI epoque, whose work included the Ritz hotels throughout Europe.  In applying this style to the reconstruction of Luton Hoo, they created a succession of state apartments hailed by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as the finest of their kind in England, "Beaux Arts", as he expressed it, "at its most convincing and indeed most elegant".

Following Sir Julius's death in 1912, Lady Wernher continued to reside at Bath House and Luton Hoo. Upon Lady Wernher's death in 1945, their second son Sir Harold, inherited. The latter had also inherited his parents' passion for collecting and was to make significant additions to their collection. Much of Sir Harold's collection was acquired through dealers and furniture was supplied by the  London firms of Partridge, Mallett and Moss Harris, silver from Crichton, paintings from Leggatts and Agnew's.