Material Porcelain
Dimensions 31.75 cm
Place of Creation China
Price 12000 euros
Status Vetted

About the Work

Of pear shape with blistered neck and decorated on a “rouge-de-fer” and white floral ground with six vertical panels of flowering plants and cockerels in the famille verte palette, the blistered neck with cell diaper and green lotus leaves.


The guglet is a long-necked vessel with a bulbous body used to store water or wine before it is served. The name is of Anglo-Indian origin, but it is also thought be descriptive of the sound liquid makes when it is poured.


This design allowed for easy handling and pouring, while the narrow neck helped to maintain the temperature of the liquid inside, keeping it cooler for longer in warm climates. The traditional water vessels have been utilized in India for centuries. While it is difficult to specify the precise origins of these vessels, their use is deeply embedded in India’s extensive history of pottery and metalwork, which dates back thousands of years.


The guglet form is also related to “garlic neck bottle vase” produced during the first half of the 17th century, influenced by Iznik bottles. Guglet, Hookah base, pear-shaped ewer or rose-water sprinkler are shapes made in Chinese Export Porcelain influenced by the Middle Eastern or Indian markets.


This example of a hight quality of painting is particularly unusual due to its predominantly rouge-de-fer enamels. Major M.H. Soames was an important English collector of the beginning of the 20th century who lent pieces to exhibitions of the Oriental ceramic Society in 1948, 1949 and 1950.

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Provenance

-According to the label, Major M.H. Soames (d. by 1954)
-Exhibited at the Oriental Ceramic Society’s, Exhibition of Enamelled Polychrome Porcelain, 1951, catalogue no. 114
-Sotheby’s London, Catalogue of the well-known collection of Chinese Ceramics – The Property of the late Major M.H. Soames, July 26th, 1954, lot 248

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