Sevres Manufactory's Vase Japon

Despite its name,the Vase Japon is an interpretation of a Chinese bronze Yu (orHu) vase from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). Its design and decorationderive from a woodblock print published in a forty-volume catalogue of the vastChinese imperial collections compiled between 1749 and 1751 at the behest ofthe Qianlong emperor. Around 1767, a copy of this catalogue was sent to HenriBertin, who at the time was France's secretary of state and commissaire du roiat the Sevres factory. The Vase Japon was made in 1774 alongwith two other vases of the same size, shape, and decoration. Each bears themark of the gilder-painter Jean-Armand Fallot (act. 1764 90). However, of thethree, only this example is adorned with a silver-gilt handle and chain, which,like its shape and surface pattern, are directly inspired by the Chinese model.The mounts bear the mark of Charles Ouizille, who, in 1784, became the officialjeweller of Louis XVI.