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A pair of chinoiserie double gouard vases

Late 17th century, marked by Gerrit Kam

Origin: Delft

Marked: GK = Gerrit Kam.

Date: 1685-1700.

Dimensions: Height: 31 cm, Diameter: 9,5 cm

 

The intriguing shape of these vases is reminiscent of a calabash gourd, also known as the ‘bottle calabash’, which is frequently encountered in Chinese porcelain. Various Delft potters also produced vases of this form. Like the examples of Chinese porcelain that they imitated, they were shaped on the wheel in two parts, which were joined together with a thinned version of the condensed clay known as ‘kleipap’ or ‘kles’. The joints and any regularities were then polished smooth with a sponge. The very narrow neck of the present examples is remarkable; they are decorated in the Oriental manner, with the typical female figures, known as ‘lange lijzen’ in Dutch, or ‘long Eliza’ in English.

A virtually identical pair of vases was acquired in 1962 by the Rijksmuseum, and was formerly in the collection of the antique dealer Aäron Vecht (1886-1965).

 

Literature

-J.D. van Dam, ‘Aanwinsten,’ Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum, 1998, no. 4, p. 438.

 

 

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