Richard White

MARKS Marked with the Chantilly factory’s iron-red hunting horn on the underside, and with an incised mark 13. MEASUREMENTS 5 1/8” (13 cm) wide, 6 1/4” (16 cm) long. PROVENANCE Doyle, New York, Sale 24DB02, Porcelain from The Dalva Brothers Collection, 6 June 2024, lot 425.

The insert fits well, the ink well and the pound pot removable. missing the stand and lid so it may have been a leftover piece turned into an ink well by a dealer during the 19th century.

Nicely painted flowers in the Sèvres style.

Insect crawling up the side!

A porcelain quatrefoil bowl manufactured at Chantilly circa 1740, painted with tight bouquets in polychrome colors along the sides and everted rim and fitted with a later incised gilt metal ink well with a removable pound pot/sander. Interesting adaptation of an old bowl. (see ALT)

Did you know that in the 18th century ‘people of quality’ thought nothing of drinking their tea out of a cup or eating off a plate decorated with large creepy crawlies & other insects? Sometimes the insects would even be given shadows to make them more realistic! Newly on display

Thanks!

Saint-Cloud porcelain, circa 1730-1740.

Decided to plant tulip bulbs in a couple of 18th century Saint-Cloud pomade pots. So far, so good.

Fairly large, and heavy. With bases, too. Pre-sale estimate: $40,000-60,000.

Empty seats in the front. Most of the bidders were in the back or leaving bids by phone or on the internet.

Watched these two porcelain busts of Louis & M-A sell today at Christie’s, New York. Not to me, $80K on the hammer ($101,600 with charges) is a little out of my price range.

Sugar bowl with stand, circa 1740. Kakiemon decoration.

New tulips I’m watering now coming up. Placed in a Chantilly porcelain sugar bowl that’s a bit older.

A PAIR OF LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED MEISSEN PORCELAIN MODELS OF ROLLERS, CIRCA 1740, MODELED BY J.J. KÄNDLER WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF J.G. EHDER, THE ORMOLU MOUNTS MID-18TH CENTURY Estimate USD 50,000 – USD 80,000

Check out the squirrel on the left! A PAIR OF MEISSEN PORCELAIN MODELS OF JAYS 19TH CENTURY, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARKS, AFTER THE MODEL BY J.J. KÄNDLER Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000

A PAIR OF MEISSEN PORCELAIN MODELS OF PIED WAGTAILS CIRCA 1740, TRACE OF BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK TO ONE, MODELED BY J.G. KIRCHNER AND PROBABLY BY J.G. EHDER Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 30,000

A PAIR OF MEISSEN PORCELAIN MODELS OF GOLDEN ORIOLES CIRCA 1750, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK TO ONE, MODELED BY J.J. KÄNDLER AND J.G. EHDER Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 30,000

Pairs of amazing 18th century Meissen porcelain birds on exhibition at Christie's, New York. All actual size and selling tomorrow. (see ALT)

A VINCENNES PORCELAIN GILT WHITE ECUELLE, COVER AND STAND (ECUELLE ‘RONDE’ ET PLATEAU ‘ROND’, 2EME GRANDEUR) MADE TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF A ROYAL GRANDSON CIRCA 1752-1753, BLUE INTERLACED L'S SURMOUNTED BY A DUCAL CROWN AND ENCLOSING A FLEUR-DE-LYS TO BOWL AND STAND, DESIGNED BY JEAN-CLAUDE DUPLESSIS Estimate USD 40,000 – USD 60,000 Richly gilt and chased with vignettes of the Arts and Sciences including Painting, Music, Literature, Geography, Medicine, Culinary Arts, Military Arts, Fishing and Gardening within a decorative half sun-burst and scroll band edging the rims, the fringed flag seen in the military trophy on the side of the bowl chased with the French royal cypher of interlaced L’s also associated with the porcelain manufactory, the center of the stand gilt and chased with two upturned dolphins emblematic of the newborn dauphin within a trellis arch 8 ½ in. (21.5 cm.) diameter, the dodecagonal stand PROVENANCE Very possibly the gilt-decorated example of the 2nd size delivered to Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (Mme de Pompadour) on 28 December 1752 at a cost of 192 livres (Registre de Ventes XVIII Siècle, 1août 1752 – 30 juillet 1756, Ventes à Crédit depuis le 18bre 1752 jusqu’au 10 7bre 1753, p. 5). With S.J. Phillips, London, 1960s. Acquired from the above by Annie Laurie Aitken (1900-1984) and Russell Barnett Aitken (1910-2002).

A photo of Mrs. Aitken's living room as it was. The soup bowl and cover with stand sitting on a spectacular French table on the right. Edith Wharton would be proud. Everything you see here is up for auction, too.

A fine soup bowl (écuelle) with cover and stand for sale at Christie's. And that's an understatement. Vincennes factory, circa 1753, gilt trophy decoration, possibly owned by Madame de Pompadour. The second picture shows how it was placed in Irene Roosevelt Aitken's living room. (see ALT)

Pairs of birds on brackets, mostly. The two walls on the sides also have brackets with animal figures. Reminds me of the David Rockefeller sale here a few years ago but that had a specially-built aviary to display all of those Meissen birds, etc.

A PAIR OF MEISSEN PORCELAIN MODELS OF SEATED HARES THE PORCELAIN MID-18TH CENTURY, THE DECORATION OF LATER DATE, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARKS Each with its fur picked out in brown and black, naturalistically modeled alert and seated on a mound base applied with flowers 6 ½ in. (16.5 cm.) high, the slightly taller Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000

A PAIR OF ORMOLU-MOUNTED MEISSEN PORCELAIN MODELS OF PUGS CIRCA 1745, MODELED BY J.J. KÄNDLER, POSSIBLY ASSISTED BY P. REINICKE, THE ORMOLU BASES LATE 19TH CENTURY Each naturalistically modeled seated and wearing a collar painted with deutsche Blumen and applied with bells and a large purple bow at the back, the female dog with a feeding pup, on mound bases applied with flowers and foliage, supported on ormolu spreading plinths headed by rockwork 7 ¼ in. (18.3 cm.) high, overall Estimate USD 15,000 – USD 25,000

A MEISSEN PORCELAIN ‘PADUAN COCK’ TUREEN AND COVER CIRCA 1773, BLUE CROSSED SWORDS MARK, MODELED BY J.J. KÄNDLER Naturalistically modeled resting with its legs tucked beneath him, an alert expression below his feathered tufts and comb 10 5⁄8 in. (27 cm.) high. Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000

This week's exhibition at Christie's, New York. The Irene Roosevelt Aitken sale. Here's the room of Meissen porcelain animals and birds on brackets on three walls, an 18th century menagerie. The photos do not do justice to the display. (see ALT)

YouTube video by Museum of Royal Worcester Ivan Day's Online Winter Talk, Frozen Delights A History of Porcelain and Ice Cream

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR9q...

A SÈVRES ROSE GROUND BULB POT (ROSE POMPADOUR VASE HOLLANDOIS, 3ÉME SIZE) MARKED WITH THE SÈVRES DATE LETTER FOR 1758 A two-part vase comprised of a pierced base with four openings and a fan-shaped upper section with gilt reserves surrounding sprays of flowers. The lower part of the vase section has eight pierced holes so that bulb or plant roots may be watered from the base. Both sections have a pink ground, though the lower section’s pink is somewhat darker possibly due to over-firing. MARKS Interlaced L’s in blue enclosing the date mark E for 1758 on both sections, the painter’s mark of a T with a dot above for François Binet, active 1750-1775. Incised marks of cn are on both the unglazed stand and underside of the upper section of the vase; the base marked in red with the Metropolitan Museum of Art accession number 1974.356.592B. A paper label is attached to the inside of the base with the text: Baronin Mathilde von Rothschild. MEASUREMENTS 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm) in diameter (the stand), 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm) in height, 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm) in length. PROVENANCE Baronin Mathilde von Rothschild. Erich von Goldschmitt-Rothschild, by descent. Herman Gall - Paul Graupe auction, Berlin, 24 March 1931, lot 428. Pictured, plate 75 in the sale catalog, page 427. Acquired by Lesley and Emma Sheafer, New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Lesley and Emma Sheafer Collection, bequest of Emma Sheafer, 1973. Sotheby’s, New York, Sale N09617, Collections: European Decorative Art, Property from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sold to Benefit The Acquisitions Fund, 27 October 2017, lot 50.

They were made in several sizes, always in two parts. The reticulated sections in the base allow you to water from below, the holes in the vase allow the water to either move up or drain out when watering from above.

Based on a Dutch form (of course), these vases were made in sets of three or five and often intended to be placed together on a mantel. Anyway, here are the sprouting tulip bulbs in situ. Fingers crossed!

Since we're going to have -15F wind chills in NYC this weekend, I'm trying to think about spring. And finally using my Sèvres vase hollandois (circa 1758) to plant tulip bulbs. It's made in two parts, I'll water from the base below through holes in the lower section of the main vase. Wish me luck.

The three figures sold very well today. All together about $360,000, far above the high estimates.

The images were digitized and then animated to move freely within the frames.

Boats crossing the lagoon and passing each other.

The actual painting (as it appears in another gallery).

Sorry for the blurry image, the room is quite dark.

An immersive room highlighting the Canaletto ("Venice...", sold just yesterday for $30M+) at Christie's, Rockefeller Center; a digitally recreated version of the painting for sale, with continually moving 3-D images. Perhaps it was aimed at brief attention spans but still an enjoyable experience.

(Washington, George) | George Washington's signed copy of the first volume of Lesage's Gil Blas, one of the few works of contemporary fiction in the Mount Vernon library | The Passion of American Coll... <p>(Washington, George) </p><p>Alain-René Lesage. The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane. A New Translation by the Author of Roderick Random. ... In Four Volumes. The Sixth Edition. Volume I. <em>Lo...

A less valuable comparable sold at Sotheby's in 2021 for $126,000, another book title signed and from his library. Since this is a seminal work the value is much more, and yes, ask an auction house specialist. Anyway, I'd predict around $400-500K or more at auction.
www.sothebys.com/en/buy/aucti...

Yes, it's big, over a foot tall. And heavy.

Leg presses were clearly part of the training program.

You would not be surprised to see this figure appear as a fountain in an 18th century French garden.

A handful of these figures still exist, most in private collections.

A very rare Vincennes large porcelain figure up for sale at Christie's in NYC tomorrow. A river god sitting on a dolphin, circa 1750. Glazed, which is rarer still for Vincennes-Sèvres. Amazing.

Similar subjects in porcelain, very different modeling and decoration.

LOT 31 A MENNECY COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE FIGURE OF PIERROT CIRCA 1750, INCISED D.V. MARK 8 in. (20.3 cm) high ESTIMATE $8,000 - $12,000

LOT 20 A MEISSEN FIGURE OF THE 'GREETING HARLEQUIN' CIRCA 1740, MODELED BY J.J. KANDLER 6 1/16 in. (15.4 cm.) high ESTIMATE $60,000 - $80,000

LOT 1 A BÖTTGER PORCELAIN GILT WHITE COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE FIGURE OF HARLEQUIN CIRCA 1715-1720, PERHAPS DECORATED AT AUGSBURG 6 5/8 in. (17cm.) high ESTIMATE $10,000 - $15,000

Send in the Clowns! Day One (for me) at Christie's, Rockefeller Center. A group of harlequins/Pierrots/clowns on display and all up for auction on Thursday. Starting on the left: Mennecy, Meissen and Böttger. (See ALT)

I’d suggest the Frick Museum only because I love it, but if you’re up for more Greek and Roman art apparently the Fordham Museum in the Bronx has a collection (I’ve not been). Dress warmly!

MEASUREMENTS Diameter: 3 1/2” (8.2 cm), height 1 3/4” (4.4 cm).

Decorated with one of Chantilly’s typical Kakiemon designs, a branch of blue and red flowers and leaves with a large brown insect placed apart from the floral decoration.

A small porcelain bowl manufactured at Chantilly circa 1740, with decoration of a flowering branch painted in polychrome colors in the kakiemon style. Possibly once a sugar bowl, now missing the cover.
With typical Chantilly decoration of a large brown insect painted on one side.

MEASUREMENTS 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm) in diameter and 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm) deep. PROVENANCE Doyle, New York, Sale 26CN01, Old Master Paintings/Silver/English & Continental Furniture, 28 January 2026, lot 565 (part). A standard factory pattern, the Lyres design appears in the Sèvres Album of Plate Designs, pattern no. 111.

A Sèvres porcelain round dish decorated with concentric lines in blue, two gilt with the "Lyres" pattern along the rim and in the center. Below two rings are bouquets of flowers, the central ring with a bouquet of two roses. Circa 1795, with the République Française "FR" mark in underglaze blue.

[Washington, George] Washington, George. Autograph Letter, signed Lot 148 [Washington, George] Washington, George. Autograph Letter, signed Father of the Nation, George Washington Pens His Philosophy For The Presidency, and His Dedication to Judgements Based On "Justice &a...

Sold for $371,200, above the estimate.
freemansauction.com/auctions/646...

Wait, a reproduction from the Met?! Disregard the faux outrage, I own a few 'modern' pieces, too. Some of them are dishwasher ready! 😀

MARKS Unmarked. With a previous Christie’s auction lot label from September 1999. MEASUREMENTS Diameter: 8 1/2” (21.6 cm), 5 3/8” (13.7 cm) deep. PROVENANCE Richard W. Weatherhead, Columbia University. Christie’s, New York, Sale 9208, A Collection of Japanese Porcelain and Japanese & Korean Art, 15 September 1999, lot 66. Christie’s, New York, Sale 16315, Edo to Post-War: 500 Years of Japanese Art and Design, 12-19 November 2018, lot 16.

A rather nice bouquet below the inside rim, beautifully arranged.

On the exterior of the bowl. Lovely.

A 19th century Japanese celadon-glazed porcelain bowl painted throughout in the kakiemon style of ‘Three Friends of Winter’: pine, bamboo and plum, the interior painted with red-ribboned bouquets of camellias and chrysanthemums. Here in frozen NYC we need all the friends we can get this winter!

From the auction catalogue: Father of the Nation, George Washington Pens His Philosophy For The Presidency, and His Dedication to Judgements Based On "Justice & the Public Good" "if the Administration of the New Government should inevitably fall upon me...I will go into Office totally free from pre-engagements of every nature whatsoever, and shall in recommendations to appointments will make justice & the public good my sole objects..." Mount Vernon, March 15, 1789. Single sheet, 6 1/2 x 8 in. (165 x 203 mm). Washington's own retained copy of his autograph letter, signed by the President-elect, to Frederick Phile, written on the excised integral leaf of Phile's March 7 letter to Washington (now in the Library of Congress): "Sir, Yesterdays Post brought me your favor of the 7th--In answer to it, I will briefly observe that if the Administration of the New Government should inevitably fall upon me that I will go into Office totally free from pre-engagements of every nature whatsoever, and shall in recommendations to appointments will make justice & the public good my sole objects. Resolving to pursue this rule, invariably--I shall add nothing more on the subject of your application until the time shall arrive when the merits and justice of every claim appear--when, so far as the matter depends upon me, the principles above mentioned shall to the best of my judgement have their full operation. I am Sir, Your Most Obedt and Hble Serv. Go: Washington". Docketed on verso in Washington's hand, "To Doctr Fred: Phile 15th Mar. 1789." Various emendations to text in Washington's hand. Creasing from old folds; scattered ink stains, especially at right margin; in mat and frame with a printed description, 18 1/2 x 16 in. (457 x 406 mm). Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 2, Letterbooks 1754-1799, p. 20

I guess I'll have to dig deeper into the couch cushions to find the loose change to bid on this one. George and I are distant cousins (7 times removed), perhaps I can get a family discount. Ha!

Lincoln-related documents at auction in March, including a cased box made by Dr. Mudd!

Saw a letter at the Printed and Manuscript Americana exhibition at Freeman's auction house last night, there was a fine panelist discussion, too. The star of the sale is this 1789 letter from Mr. Washington. Some fine documents, etc., related to Mr. Lincoln as well. Amazing history. (see ALT)

MARKS A small anchor mark in red underneath the bowl. MEASUREMENTS 6 3/4 in. (17.2 cm) in diameter, 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm) in height. PROVENANCE Bonhams, Edinburgh, Sale 25361, Home and Interiors, 10 April 2019, lot 134.

Fan-shaped handles are somewhat rare on Chelsea broth bowls; though the shape was based on earlier silver versions of broth bowls, Chelsea’s handles may have also been inspired by very similar ones seen on Meissen and other continental examples produced during the mid-18th century.

A flower bouquet on the cover.

A Chelsea porcelain circular form broth bowl (écuelle) with fan-like handles, gilt highlights and a cover with a flower knop, all decorated with sprays of flowers. Red Anchor Period, circa 1755. The form probably inspired by one in silver and the decoration perhaps inspired by Meissen.

MARKS Incised D.V. mark on both the bowl and the plate. MEASUREMENTS Bowl and Lid: 6 1/2” (16.5 cm) in diameter and 4 1/2” (11.4 cm) high. Plate: 7” (17.8 cm) in diameter.

On the underplate, or stand, roses arranged nicely along the rim with one in the center.

Side view with blue-painted lines and stylized decoration in blue on the handles

A circa 1760 Mennecy porcelain soup bowl (écuelle) with cover and underplate, the bowl in a two-handled and ribbed form with painted flowers and blue-lined rims, the cover with a painted rose knop. Similar to a silver form; with typical Mennecy rose bud decoration.

Typical firing cracks.

On gilt faux-rock formations. Well, they do "pop".

A sweet scene.

A not-so-sweet scene.

A number of Meissen animal figures, photos I took last year at the Zwinger in Dresden. Made during the 1730s and intended for Augustus the Strong's Japanese Palace. Several are also in Boston's MFA and the Met and elsewhere. Amazing.

Eat your heart out, Salvador Dali.

In the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dents and folds galore.

More Ohr. With a snowy Central Park behind the vitrine.

I recently introduced Lucía Abramovich Sánchez of the MFA on Zoom for a Connecticut Ceramics Circle lecture on colonial Mexican pottery. During the Q&A both Lucía and I were asked about the pottery of George Ohr and we blanked. Shame on me and us! So here he is, and a few of his pots now in the Met.

MEASUREMENTS Diameter: 2 1/8” (5.3 cm), height 1 7/8” (4.6 cm). PROVENANCE Lesley and Emma Sheafer, New York The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Lesley and Emma Sheafer Collection, Bequest of Emma A. Sheafer, 1973. Sotheby’s, New York, Sale N09617, European Furniture and Decorative Art, 27 October 2017, lot 66.

The kakiemon-inspired pattern of polychrome flowers with two banded sheaves, one blue and one red placed at 90 degrees, was a popular design at Chantilly during the first few decades of the manufactory. This beaker form was likely inspired by a sake cup in the Prince de Condé’s collection. Sotheby’s catalog text: (gobelet seau) painted with two wheat sheaves and scattered Oriental flower sprays, hunting horn mark in red.

Marked underneath with the Chantilly hunting horn mark in red.

A circa 1740 Chantilly porcelain beaker painted in polychrome colors in the kakiemon style, decorated with wheat sheaves and flowers. Simple decoration, nicely done.

Indeed a "delightful" lecture from Ivan today. The surtout table display at the Gardiner Museum was lovely to see again, thanks for sharing, too.

A Japanese molded white-glazed and incised Hirado late-19th century porcelain figure in the shape of a squirrel sitting on a rock formation covered in raised grape and grape leaf decoration. MARKS No marks. MEASUREMENTS 5” (12.7 cm) in width, 5 1/2” (14 cm) in height, 3 1/4” (8.3 cm) in depth.

A 17th century Chinese Export porcelain bowl or dish with applied decoration of a trailing vine of green leaves and multi-colored grapes with four gilt squirrels randomly placed within the design, the center with a pebbled gilt medallion. MARKS No marks; price and descriptive labels from a dealer or retailer attached to the underside. MEASUREMENTS 8“ (20.4 cm) in diameter.

A circa 1755 Chelsea porcelain bowl molded with a lobed rim edged in brown and decorated with a Japanese Kakiemon-inspired scene in the ‘Flying Fox’ pattern with a squirrel and grapes astride banded hedges. MARKS A small anchor mark in red on the underside, center. MEASUREMENTS 8 1/4” (21 cm) in diameter, 1 1/2” (3.5 cm) deep.

A circa 1735 Meissen molded porcelain overlapping leaf-shaped dish with Kakiemon-style decoration picturing a design of a squirrel and grapes on banded hedges and a flying fox above, with an Imari-style brocade diaper patchwork design over the top section. On the interior raised leaf veins radiate towards the brown-lined edges, on the reverse are painted scattered flowers. MARKS Crossed swords in underglaze blue on the underside. MEASUREMENTS 9 1/4” (23 cm) long, 6 1/2” (16.5 cm), 1 5/8” (4 cm) deep.

Apparently it's Squirrel Appreciation Day so I better step up. Here are several 18th and 19th century porcelain items with a variety of squirrel decoration and forms. (details in ALT)