MacDougall's Russian Art Auctions 25 March 2015
25 March 2015
* 151.
A Porcelain Scent Bottle
1,000—1,500 GBP
POPOV MANUFACTORY, MOSCOW, 19TH CENTURY
Height 11 cm.
with blue underglaze manufactory mark
“An elegant woman without perfume is like a rose without fragrance”, wrote a columnist of the Everylady's Journal in 1910 (No. 1, p. 29). By the middle of the 19th century Russia had its own perfume companies, producing a wide range of perfumes and eau de cologne to compete with French imports. Porcelain perfume bottles became an integral part of every fashionable interior to the same extent as porcelain figurines. The Imperial Porcelain Factory and privately owned porcelain manufactories produced all sorts of vessels, ranging from imitations of precious oriental bottles to florid creations with stucco flowers and painted motifs.
This highly decorative bottle with its angular silhouette lines and fine gilt floral ornamentation is a superlative example of such porcelains produced by Popov manufactory at the time.
Notes on symbols:
* Indicates 5% Import Duty Charge applies.
Ω Indicates 20% Import Duty Charge applies.
§ Indicates Artist's Resale Right applies.
† Indicates Standard VAT scheme applies, and the rate of 20% VAT will be charged on both hammer price and premium.