NYC-based 18th-century porcelain and decorative art collector showing photos of the crazy stuff he's bought over the years. Runner, too.
Richard White
Visited the DeWitt Wallace Museum of Decorative Art in Williamsburg and in the current exhibition about colonial life in Virginia I saw this: a small section at the floor explaining about some other colonial settlers: rats. OK!
Chickens in conversation! A Chinese Dehua porcelain rooster next to a Japanese Arita porcelain hen on a gilt bronze stand, both made in the 18th century. I photographed these two years ago for an in-person presentation on chicken figures appearing in ceramics. A fun pair despite their differences.
A Sèvres-style gilt porcelain coffee cup and saucer with painted floral decoration between gilt bands along the upper perimeter of both, and with gilt stars, dots and leaves in rows beneath. Made at the Comte d'Artois factory, circa 1800. The flower decoration is nice though a little intense.
Whenever I'm watching a TV 'period'/costume drama I always zero in on the ceramics in use and often come away disappointed that the set designers et al couldn't get it 'right.' As in: anachronistic cups, saucers and plates at tea time. Here are plates used in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. Nope!
An 18th century Japanese porcelain octagonal bowl painted in enamel polychrome colors in the kakiemon style with flowers, bamboo and prunus along the exterior and alternating panels of flower sprays and prunus on the cavetto. Edo Period (1615-1868). Love that blue decoration and inside rim.
A Sèvres salmon pink ground tea cup and saucer, both painted with a gilt geometric design of interconnecting diamonds and stars with flower sprigs and a central quatrefoil reserve surrounding two exotic birds in flight with berried branches. Probably a 19th century copy of an 18th century pattern.
However... to be fair, in the same film an 18th-century Sèvres pitcher and basin appeared in one scene and I was shocked and glad to see it. Presumably the set is in the collection at Versailles; a similar set with rose ground is in the Getty Museum, right.
Visited the Colin G. and Nancy N. Campbell Archaeology Center in Williamsburg and went on a guided tour as part of the ceramics symposium this past weekend. It opened in April and it's just an amazing place for research and preservation.
A sugar bowl made at the Mennecy factory circa 1760. A copy of sugar bowls (sucriers de monsieur-le-premier) made at Sèvres, with a bowl attached to an oval stand with a lid with flower knop. Brighter colors than you normally see on Mennecy flower decoration, but I think it's of the period.
