Terms and conditions of use
Pair of vases
1876
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
(a) 68.7 × 28.5 cm diameter (water lily)
(b) 68.7 × 28.5 cm diameter (lobster)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The Dr Robert Wilson Collection. Gift of Dr Robert Wilson, 2007
Gallery location
18th & 19th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
These large-scale vases represent a mix of Chinese porcelain vase forms and Japanese imagery. The Japanese-inspired painterly decoration contrasts markedly with the formal Chinese-inspired, modelled framing details. The marine decoration encompasses waterlilies, seaweed, fish and crustaceans, yet it is difficult to determine whether, as a viewer, we are underwater with the crustaceans or looking down from above at the waterlilies. Such ambiguity is a common device in Japanese art. The decorator has also taken the liberty of continuing the seaweed decoration onto the neck of one of the vases, paying no heed to the formal framing devices.
Artwork Details
Inscription
(a-b) painted in black (in image) l.r.: W. Mussill
(a) impressed (inverted) (diagonally) in rim of base c.r.: MINTONS / 1987 / (triangle in a circle) / 3
printed in gold (inverted) on base c.: (crown) / MINTONS (in a banner) (horizontally over globe)
(b) printed in gold (inverted) on base c.: (crown) / MINTONS (in a banner) (horizontally over globe)
impressed (inverted) (diagonally) in rim of base l.c.: MINTONS
impressed (inverted) in rim of base l.c.: 1987 / (triangle in a circle) n q
Accession Number
2007.113.a-b
Department
International Decorative Arts
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited