15 Pairs of Exquisite Antique Vases
Just some of the fascinating art you can find in our online collection
Pair of vases; vases 1500s or 1600s, mounts about 1750; Turkish (vase), French (mount). Fritware with underglaze and overglaze colors, gilt-bronze mounts. Getty Museum, 2015.73
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At the Getty Center and Getty Villa Museum, we have thousands of paintings, sculptures, and other artworks in our galleries.
But did you know that we have even more artwork online? Our digital Museum Collection holds art images of all kinds: antiquities, paintings, manuscripts, photographs, and more.
Up for a little virtual antiquing? Search for, say, “pairs of vases” and take a tour through these beautiful objets d’art.
Want to learn more about the vases you see? Click the hyperlink underneath each image for more information from the curators in our Sculpture & Decorative Arts department.
Vases Oeuf, 1768–1769, Sèvres Manufactory. Soft-paste porcelain, bleu Fallot ground color, grisaille enamel decoration, and gilding; gilt-bronze mounts, 17 3/4 × 9 1/2 × 7 1/2 in. Getty Museum, 86.DE.520
On view at Getty Center, Museum South Pavilion, South Hall
These decorative “egg vases” have (egg) basketwork bases, egg-shaped bodies, and eggs resting in straw nests for lids.
Vases Bolvry à Perles, 1781-1782, Sèvres Manufactory. Hard-paste porcelain, polychrome enamel decoration and gilding; 16 7/8 × 9 × 6 5/8 in. Getty Museum, 88.DE.137
On view at Getty Center, Museum South Pavilion, South Hall
These beauties were made in the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory. Louis XV was once the principal shareholder and financial backer.
Pair of Vases; 18th century; porcelain mid-1700s, mounts about 1775; Chinese (vase), French (mount). Porcelain, underglaze colors, and overglaze enamel decoration; gilt-bronze mounts; 13 9/16 × 8 1/16 × 7 5/16 in. Getty Museum, 2015.68
On view at Getty Center, Museum South Pavilion, Gallery S112
Here’s an example of mounted Chinese porcelain. The decorative vases are Chinese, but their mounting—the gilt-bronze decorative elements added to them—is French.
Pair of Mounted Vases; porcelain about 1662–1722, mounts about 1870–1900; Chinese. Hard-paste porcelain, gilt bronze mounts; 22 1/2 × 8 1/4 in. Getty Museum, 78.DI.239
Another beautiful example.
Pair of Vases, about 1770, French. Porcelain; gilt-bronze mounts. Getty Museum, 2015.75
These dark blue French vases are an example of vases à monter (vases for mounting). They were specifically designed to showcase their elaborate gilt-bronze mounts.
Pair of Vases; porcelain 1662–1722, mounts about 1770–1775; porcelain Chinese (Kangxi) and French mounts. Hard-paste porcelain, black ground color and gilding; gilt bronze mounts. Getty Museum, 92.DI.19
On view at Getty Center, Museum South Pavilion, Gallery S114
This lustrous finish is known as “mirror-black ware.” These vases were once decorated with gilded patterns that you can still see if you look closely.
Pair of lidded vases, about 1700, French. Green granite. Getty Museum, 95.DJ.84
On view at Getty Center, Museum South Pavilion, Gallery S102
These are hardstone vases. This particular style of decorative vase climaxed in France during the reign of Louis XIV.
Pair of Lidded Vases, about 1700, French. Marble and gilt bronze, 16 1/4 × 14 × 9 1/2 in. Getty Museum, 93.DJ.43
On view at Getty Center, Museum South Pavilion, Gallery S105
They were made almost exclusively for the French court.
Vases Hollandois Nouveaux, Deuxième Grandeur; about 1775–1780; painted by Jacques-François-Louis de Laroche, gilded by Antoine-Toussaint Cornaille, Sèvres Manufactory. Soft paste porcelain, enamel colors and gold decoration, bleu céleste ground color; 9 15/16 × 8 7/8 × 6 1/4 in. Getty Museum, 83.DE.341
These vases are designed to be planters. Soil and flowering plants go in the upper trumpet-shaped section. Add water through the openings in the base.
Vases à Têtes de Bouc; about 1768; possibly modeled by Michel-Dorothée Coudray, finished by the sculpture detailer Nantier, Sèvres Manufactory. Soft paste porcelain, beau bleu ground color and gilding; 13 7/16 × 8 5/8 × 6 5/8 in. Getty Museum, 82.DE.36
On view at Getty Center, Museum South Pavilion, South Hall
Vases à têtes de bouc means “goat's head vases.”
Pair of Lidded Vases; before 1733, lids about 1760; Meissen Porcelain Manufactory. Hard-paste porcelain, polychrome enamel decoration, gilding; 4 × 7 15/16 in. Getty Museum, 73.DE.65
On view at Getty Center, Museum East Pavilion, Gallery E103
These are German vases imitating the shape and decoration of Chinese porcelain.
Pair of Lidded Vases; porcelain about 1650–1680, mounts about 1715–1720; Chinese (Kangxi) and French. Hard-paste porcelain, gilt bronze mounts; 13 1/2 × 12 3/4 × 13 in. Getty Museum, 75.DI.5
On view at Getty Center, Museum South Pavilion, Gallery S105
These Chinese vases used to be larger. Their central areas were cut and removed and their shoulders are now lids.
Pair of Lidded Vases; porcelain about 1700, mount 1722–1727; Chinese (porcelain), French (mount). Porcelain and silver. Getty Museum, 91.DI.103
On view at Getty Center, Museum South Pavilion, Gallery S104, Space 3
These Chinese vases were mounted with silver and pierced to transform them into potpourri containers.
Pair of Lidded Vases, about 1780–1785, French. Gilt bronze. Getty Museum, 2015.76
On view at Getty Center, Museum South Pavilion, Gallery S116
The pair of lidded vases are made entirely of gilt bronze and may once have been paired with a clock or candelabra to form a garniture for a mantelpiece.
Garniture of Three Vases; 1781; Shape designed by Jacques-François Deparis, at least one vase modelled by the répareur Etienne-Henry Bono, reserves painted by Antoine Caton. Soft-paste porcelain, beau bleu ground color, polychrome enamel decoration, enamel imitating jewels, gilding, and gold foil. Getty Museum, 84.DE.718
On view at Getty Center, [Museum South Pavilion, South Hall][2]A garniture is a collection of decorative objects intended to be displayed together, often on a mantlepiece.
This example features three vases that formed the central part of a garniture sold to Louis XVI in 1781 and placed in his private library in Versailles.
That's it for pairs (and a trio) of vases.
Each of these works is Public Domain and can be downloaded, printed, Zoom backgrounded, and shared for free. To learn more, check out this online tutorial.
Have you found something fascinating in our online collection that you'd like to know more about? Let us know at stories[at]getty.edu.
