This vase is part of a set of vases called garnitures. Possibly first seen on temple altars by 16th or 17th century European visitors to China, garnitures of vases became popular items of interior decoration in Europe during the later 17th century continuing through the 19th century. They were assembled from the numerous single pieces imported into Europe for use on mantelpieces, furniture, on overdoor cornices, cabinet tops, as well as on tables and shelves. The arrangement consisted of the covered jar form usually placed centrally and flanked or separated by beaker-form vases, as seen here, or otherwise alternating the shapes depending on their combinations. Garniture sets of three, five, or seven were common.

This example is decorated in overglaze enamels with the last and most popular Chinese 18th century floral pattern known as tobacco leaf. It was probably inspired by fanciful textile designs rather than by precise botanical drawings of a tobacco plant, The large blossom resembles a hibiscus or passion flower.

Adapted from

• Dallas Museum of Art, Decorative Arts Highlights from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 98.

• Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1985), 188, 197 and 205.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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