A SUPERB PAIR OF CHINESE PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE SOLDIER VASES AND COVERS

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A SUPERB PAIR OF CHINESE PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE SOLDIER VASES AND COVERS Kangxi period, each decorated with two pairs of alternating narrative panels, the first vase with a scene depicting warriors on horseback brandishing weapons in a walled city setting, and a panel with ladies and children in a garden landscape with a pavilion, the second vase with a panel showing a Mandarin in his court with numerous attendants and musicians, together with a scene showing a court official on horseback, with flag-bearing escorts, amidst a walled city with turrets, the panels framed between borders of formal lappets and stiff leaves, 106cm high overall (2) Breamore House. This magnificent pair of 'Soldier' vases has long occupied a guard-like role at Breamore House. The term 'Soldier' vase is often associated with their resemblance to sentries standing to attention, often positioned on either side of a doorway or, in this case, a mantelpiece of a country house. The phrase, however, has a more significant origin. Vases of this grand height and rarity were so highly prized by European nobility that during the height of the China Trade Period, one leader made a now-famous exchange. Augustus the Strong of Saxony (1670-1733) so admired vases of this form that he traded 600 cavalrymen and horses from his own army for a collection of 151 vases, including 18 massive blue and white vases of this form. They have been called 'Soldier' or 'Dragoon' ever since. Similar pairs of Kangxi period vases can be found in The Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, possibly brought to England from Germany with George I's Hanoverian dynasty, as well as in the collection of The National Trust at Petworth House, West Sussex. A comparable pair was sold at Christie's, New York, 23 January 2007, Lot 12. Another similar pair from Easton Neston House was sold at Sotheby's, London, 18 May 2005, Lot 798.

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