A RARE PAIR OF CHINESE 'FAMILLE-ROSE' RUBY-GROUND BALUSTER JARS AND COVERS QING DYNASTY, CIRCA 1735

each finely painted on the ovoid body with baskets of flowers between ruby-ground lotus lappet borders, the domed covers with lion-dog finials.

Collection of Edward and Eva Stotesbury, Whitemarsh Hall, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Covers - both knops are extensively restoration and appear to be mostly made up replacements. One cover has a half inch old chip under the rim edge. The other cover has a 4 inch by 1 inch section of the rim broken out and restored back in. This cover also has several old chips and restored chips under the rim edge. There are patches of flaking to the green enamel leaves. Vases - one has a three inch by 1 1/4 inch piece broken from the rim in two pieces and glued back in (it was previously riveted). There is a filled drilled hole in the base. The other vase has a fine haircrack running up from the foot approximately half way up the body through one of the flower baskets. This vase has some small patches of loss to the green enamel.
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.

One jar bears a handwritten paper label pasted to the interior, inscribed: 'This Chinese temple jar, cover and stand (4 in set) loaned by me to the Pennsylvania Museum of Art is part of the inventoried contents of my residence, Whitemarsh Hall, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and belongs in the Salon' and signed 'E. T. Stotesbury'. The jars also bear inked inventory numbers '132.1932.530', '3.1942.28b' and 'C 10104/4.E.T.S'

Financier Edward Townsend Stotesbury married Lucretia Roberts Cromwell, known as Eva, in 1912. Work began on their new home, Whitemarsh Hall, in 1916, and the house had its grand opening with a party for 800 of Philadephia's high society in 1921. Designed by architect Horace Trumbauer and furnished by Joseph Duveen, the house was one of the grandest on the East coast and known in its day as 'the Versailles of America'. By 1929 Stotesbury's finances were in decline, and after his death in 1938, Eva sold Whitemarsh Hall and moved the contents to other homes. Eva's jewelery and the contents of her homes were sold at Parke-Bernet Galleries in a series of sales in 1946 and 1947. The house fell into decline and was demolished in 1980.

For an account of Whitemarsh Hall and the lives of the Stotesburys see Charles G. and Edward C. Zwicker, Whitemarsh Hall. The Estate of Edward T. Stotesbury, 2004,  where the present vases appear in two period photographs of the ballroom, p. 53.

A similarly decorated vase is illustrated by Edgar Gorer and J . F. Blacker, Chinese Porcelain and Hardstones, London, 1911, col. pl. 203; and a pair formerly in the Alfred Morrison Collection, Fonthill House, Wiltshire, was sold at Christie's, London, 9th November, 2004, lot 14.