Baluster vase, from a five-piece garniture (F1980.190-.194)
date: label: Date
content: 1662-1722
label: Period
content: Qing dynasty, Kangxi reign
notes: label: Description
content: Covered baluster vase, one of three in a five-piece garniture (F1980.190-194).
label: Description
content: Clay: white porcelain.
label: Description
content: Glaze: clear, feldspathic.
label: Description
content: Decoration: painted in underglaze cobalt blue with a court lady being entertained by a dancer and musicians, floral sprays on neck, domed cover has ladies, flowers and rocks, and a bud-shaped finial knob.
label: Provenance
content: To 1916
label: Provenance
content: Duveen Brothers, New York [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1916 to 1941
label: Provenance
content: Mrs. B. F. Jones Jr. (d. 1941), Pittsburgh and Sewickley Heights, Pennsylvania, purchased from Duveen Brothers in 1916 [2]
label: Provenance
content: 1941
label: Provenance
content: Sale, New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., “Art Property and Furnishings of the Palatial Residence of the Late Mrs. B.F. Jones Jr, Sewickley Heights, PA,” November 27, 1941, lot 670 (ill.): “Important Blue and White Five-Piece Garniture, K’ang-hsi”
label: Provenance
content: From 1941 to no later than 1945
label: Provenance
content: Myron S. Falk, Sr. (1878-1945), Greenwich, Connecticut, purchased through Edward Wells at the Parke-Bernet Sale, Inc., New York, November 27, 1941 [3]
label: Provenance
content: From 1940s to 1980
label: Provenance
content: Myron S. Falk, Jr. (1906-1992), New York, given by Myron S. Falk, Sr. in the 1940s [4]
label: Provenance
content: From 1980
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, given by Myron S. Falk, Jr. and his sisters Mrs. Mildred F. Loew and Mrs. Eleanor F. Lenzner in 1980
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] The garniture appears in an undated Duveen Brothers black-and-white stock photo, which bears the handwritten notations: "1849/29761, Height of Vases 18 1/2 ins., beakers 17 1/2 ins." and "61" in the lower left corner, and "A set of 5 Blue & White Nankin vases & beakers", in the lower right corner. See Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Duveen Brothers records, Duveen Brothers stock documentation from the dealer’s library, 1829-1965. Series I. Photograph albums, 1871-1956. Series I.A. Stock albums, 1907-1954; ID/Accession Number: 2007.D.1 (bx.1-9), China books, vol. 3, p. 61. Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cat717039.
label: Provenance
content: [2] The purchase was recorded on September 19, 1941 in the Duveen Brothers' collector file for B. F. Jones Jr., as one of the "Objects sold directly to Mrs. B.F. Jones, Jr.", during the year 1916. There it is described as "A Garniture of Five Pieces of Old Chinese Porcelain of fine quality. Kang Hsi period. Consisting of 3 Vases with Covers, and 2 Beaker-shaped Vases, decorated with figures of Lange Eleisen flowers, etc.", and a price of $9,000 is noted. See Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Duveen Brothers records, 1876-1981 (bulk 1909-1964). Series II. Correspondence and papers. Series II.I. Collectors' files: Jones, B. F., Jr., 1, ca. 1917-1941, ID/Accession number: 960015, (bx.472,f.3), p. 2. Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/960015b472f003.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The object is listed in an invoice issued by Wells Objects of Art Specialist in Chinese Antiquities to Myron S. Falk on November 28, 1941, copy in object file.
label: Provenance
content: A copy of the 1941 auction catalogue preserved in the Museum Library bears Myron S. Falk Sr.’s handwritten notations: “Welles will bid $1050 for M.S.F. Valued $3-4,000. Mrs. Jones paid Duveen Bros. $15,000", in the left margin and "Sold for $800. to M. S. F." in the right margin. The accompanying plate illustrating the garniture bears the handwritten notation: "In my opinion covers do not belong—but extremely fine set! Extremely rare in garniture form and without defects". See also “Art Sale Brings $14,135: K’an-shi Garniture is sold for $750…,” New York Times (November 27, 1941).
label: Provenance
content: [4] The objects were gifted by Myron S. Falk, Sr. to his son, Myron S. Falk, Jr., see Page Report, dated September 18, 1995, in object file.
label: Provenance
content: The objects were initially included in Sotheby-Parke-Bernet Galleries’s Sale “Fine Chinese Works of Art” on May 8, 1980 as lot 261 (color ill.) and then taken out of the sale.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: The Peacock Room in Blue and White [2019-2022] (May 18, 2019 to June 1, 2022)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinamania (2016) (July 9, 2016 to June 4, 2017)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Peacock Room (May 2, 1923 to February 21, 2011)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Duveen Brothers
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Mrs. B. F. Jones
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Mr. Myron S. Falk, Sr.
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Myron S. Falk, Jr. (1906-1992)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Mrs. Mildred F. Loew
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Mrs. Eleanor F. Lenzner
place: label: Origin
content: Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China
topic: label: Topic
content: ceramic
label: Topic
content: flower
label: Topic
content: Jingdezhen ware
label: Topic
content: music
label: Topic
content: dancing
label: Topic
content: Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911)
label: Topic
content: Kangxi reign (1662 - 1722)
label: Topic
content: woman
label: Topic
content: cobalt pigment
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: porcelain
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: dancer
setName: label: On View
content: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Gallery 12: The Peacock Room in Blue and White
label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Myron S. Falk, Jr. and his sisters, Mrs. Mildred F. Loew and Mrs. Eleanor F. Lenzner
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1980.191a-c
objectType: label: Type
content: Vessel
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Porcelain with cobalt pigment under clear colorless glaze
label: Dimensions
content: H x Diam (assembled): 46.3 × 17.2 cm (18 1/4 × 6 3/4 in)
label: Style
content: Jingdezhen ware