A PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE 'PARROT ON PERCH' BALUSTER VASES, QING
China, late Qing dynasty (1644-1912), 19th century. The porcelain baluster vases with covers are finely enameled after a Cornelius Pronk design with a parrot on a perch suspended from a fruit-shaped ornament, the bird chained to the stoop and with colorful plumage, the left talon grasping a cherry sprig, with a blue border at the flared mouth and foot. The covers decorated with two fruits above a blue border.

Provenance: Irish private collection.
Condition: Excellent condition with only minor wear.

Weight: 1,008 g and 982 g
Dimensions: Height 34.5 cm

Cornelis Pronk (1691-1759) was well-known Dutch designer and was appointed by the Dutch East India Company in August 1734 to make designs for Chinese porcelain, four of which are recorded in the company books in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. He left the employ of the company by the end of the decade and today we attribute several other designs to him as seems probable by stylistic comparison. Nine probable designs are listed by David S. Howard and John Ayers in China for the West, vol. I, p. 294 where other probable designs are also discussed.