These two square bottle vases are an unusual shape for Mason’s, a factory far better known for jugs, covered jars and baluster vases. Each rises from a square base through a tapering body to a narrow square neck, and both keep their original square covers with gilt finials. The form is hard enough to find as a single piece, let alone as a matched pair with both covers.
The ground is a deep mazarine blue, almost entirely covered in fine gilt scale ornament, so the blue glows through the gold rather than sitting flat. Set into it are fan-shaped, round, rectangular and stepped reserves showing birds, bamboo, waterfalls, landscapes and mon roundels. They follow the Japan pattern taste English potters had drawn on since Japanese Imari first reached Europe in the late seventeenth century. The outlines were transfer printed, and the colour, enamel and a great deal of gold were all applied by hand.
Charles James Mason patented his ironstone in 1813 and sold it as tougher than porcelain, and he made sure every base said so. Both vases carry the black printed Mason’s Patent Ironstone China crown and ribbon mark used from about 1830 to 1848, along with the hand-painted pattern number 1566.
Condition notes
The first vase is in very good condition, with minor rubbing to the gilding on top of the cover finial and around the neck rim. Colours, enamel and gilding are very well preserved. The second vase has restoration to the cover, visible from the inside but not very noticeable from the outside. The vase itself is in very good condition with fresh colour, enamel and gilding. Checked under UV light, with no other problem areas visible.
