A Pair Of Famille Rose 'Soldier' Vases And Covers, Early Qianlong Peruiod

Enameled in a bright famille rose palette with leaf-shaped panels of birds perched on blossoming boughs, fruit-shaped panels of landscape and square panels of waterbirds, all on a noir ground of vine strewn with auspicious objects and blossoms, biscuit Buddhist lion knops, with later Western carved giltwood stands. 50 in. (127 cm.) high (4). Estimate $100,000 - $150,000

Provenance: Mrs. H.K. Gosling, Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
Mrs. Anna Thomson Dodge, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.
A mid-Atlantic private collection.

Literature: A Catalogue of the Works of Art in the Collection of Anna Thomson Dodge, Duveen, Detroit 1939, vol. II (illustrated).

Notes: Acquired by the seller at the 1971 Christie's sale of the remaining contents of Rose Terrace, the 50,000 square foot Louis XVI style house Anna Thomson Dodge (1871-1970) built on the shores of Lake St. Clair. Widow of automotive titan Horace E. Dodge (d.1920), Mrs. Dodge's stake in the car company brought her an estimated $40,000 per day. A fiercely dedicated collector, Mrs. Dodge furnished her vast house with 18th century French furniture, Old Master paintings, tapestries and porcelain, much acquired from Duveen. In her lifetime and at her death she was a major benefactor of many Detroit institutions; 130 pieces from her collection now reside at the Detroit Institute of Art and others at the Getty Museum.

Christie's. Chinese Export Porcelain. 21 January 2009. New York, Rockefeller Plaza. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2009 . www.christies.com