LOUIS XV PERIOD MOUNTED EWER In celadon porcelain, China, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795), Louis XV period chased and gilt bronze mount decorated with reeds among rocks and shells; accidents to the porcelain H. 32 cm (12 ½ in.) l. 17 cm (6 ½ in.) An ormolu-mounted and Chinese celadon porcelain ewer, the mounts Louis XV, the porcelain Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795) The diary of Lazare Duvaux mentions on October 16, 1750 that the Marquise de Pompadour acquired "Four pieces of celadon porcelain, two of which are in the form of cones and two fish, all decorated with gold ormolu. The taste of the Marquise set the tone in the high society of the time and the craze for mounted porcelain of the same kind spread quickly among members of the Court and enlightened collectors such as M. Gaignat, Jean de Julienne or Blondel d'Azincourt. Baron de Pierre-Victor de Besenval, commander of Louis XVI's Swiss Guards, is represented by Henri Pierre Danloux sitting on a shepherd's chair near a fireplace where there is a mounted vase with carp decoration of the same model as ours. Several of these appeared on sale in the 18th century, but the brief descriptions in the sales catalogs of the time and the existence of variants make a formal identification impossible. Here, the head of the fish is used as a spout; among the known examples of the same model, let us recall : - A pair from the former Wildenstein collection sold at Christie's London, 14-15 December 2005, lot 45. - A pair from the former collection of Mrs Consuelo Vanderbilt, sold at Sotheby's New York, on December 9, 1994, lot 136. - A pair from the collection of Lord Robert Chrichton-Stuart, sold at Sotheby's London, July 3, 1959, lot 114. - A pair from the collection of Mrs and Mrs Basil Gouland sold at Christie's London, June 11, 1992, lot 64. - A pair in Harewood House (inventory number 2002.1.52a). - A pair in the English Royal Collection (inventory number RCIN 360). -A pair from the Huntington collection now in the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco (inventory numbers 1927.165 and 1927.166). - The two vases from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon (inventory numbers 124A and 124C). A variant, with the tail acting as a spout, belongs to the former Hastings Collection now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (inventory number 1942.9.444). Some vases are composed of two carps leaning against each other as in the central vase of the set of the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon (inventory number 124B) or the pair sold at Sotheby's New York, May 3, 1986, lot 40.