Vase with mounts mark and reign Qianlong 1736-95, mount: early 19th century (porcelain with light...

Chinese porcelain vase with French or English gilt-bronze mounts. With ovoid body, splayed foot, waisted neck with a pair of flat openwork dragon handles, and flaring mouth. Painted in white slip, with branches of flowering prunus on either side and smaller prunus sprays on the neck. The six-character reign-mark in seal script Da Qing Qianlong nian zhi (‘Made in the reign of the Qianlong emperor of the Great Qing’) is written in blue on the base. The top rim mount consists of a gilt-bronze reeded ring, centred with a shell issuing acanthus leaves on each side; the scrolled reeds are attached on either side to a pair of interlaced acanthus-branch handles following the vase contours beautifully, chased in burnished and matt gilding, on top of which is perched a pair of winged dragons peering into the mouth, their tails entwined with the twisted branches, which are attached below to a pounced and moulded foot ring raised on four pierced scrolled feet, between which are pounced panels of pierced ovals centred by a pierced oval cartouche of C-scrolls. For the furnishing of Carlton House, and subsequently the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, the Prince Regent acquired numerous celadon vases with French gilt-bronze mounts, many of which are overdecorated in white porcelain slip. Where necessary, elaborate mountings were commissioned from Vulliamy and other London craftsmen; and for Brighton, to maintain the brilliance of the galleries, they were often converted into candelabra. The quality and sophistication of the mounts are comparable to those on the pair of ewers RCIN 2318.1-2. While it is not known who commissioned the vase or the ewers, it would be entirely conceivable that George IV had a hand in their acquisition, or perhaps caused their creation through a commission. Mounts of this type have been associated with Edward Holmes Baldock, dealer in furniture and porcelain.