A Pair of Triple-gourd Shaped Armorial Vases

c. 1900

A pair of triple-gourd shaped armorial vases (French, c. 1900) in the Chinese export style made by the Edme Samson & Cie factory. The vases are decorated in the famille-rose palette, with bouquets and sprigs of flowers and prunus blossoms amidst borders and scattered bamboo branches in “bianco-sopra-bianco” (or “white on white”). The bottom sections are decorated at center with a large unidentified coat-of-arms, the split shield has three gold pickaxes against a black ground on the left side and three red flowers against a white ground with a pointed gold on blue fleur-de-lys banner on the right side. The coat-of-arms is crested by a knight’s helmet and a sitting donkey. The necks and rims of the vases are decorated with gold and red spearhead borders. The vases are marked on the underside in red with the Asian style Samson mark in imitation of Asian characters.

French

porcelain

17.5" x 8.5" x 8.5"

Gift of Mr. & Mrs. John R. Drexel III in memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Morris Smith, 1994.

PSNC.4130.1 - .2