Pair of small Canton porcelain lamps with screens, circa 1880

Pair of small bottle shape Canton porcelain lamps with a decor figuring palace scenes in cartouches on one side and flowers and birds on the other side, both framed by flowers and foliage. On the neck, ornamentation of sat Asian characters in cartouches and a gilt relief decor of lizards figure.
Lamps are topped by scalloped paper screens decorated with an aquarium with tree red fishes and a vase full of flowers, the whole set is on a green cloth decorated with foliage scrolls motifs.
Chiselled and gilt bronze circular base adorned with friezes of cabochons and a beads frieze.

Work realized circa 1880. New and functional electrical system.

Dimensions : H29 cm x W 20 cm x D 9 cm

Reference : LS2957211

The Canton porcelain is a type of porcelain with specific enamels decor, ordered by the East India Companies to Chinese porcelain manufacturers and exported to Europe in the 18th century.
Indeed, strangers who traded with China quickly became fond of porcelain to export it to Europe, notably because for many years they didn’t master the production technique. The porcelain was produced in China, in the Jingdezhen city, considered as the porcelain capital town since the Mongolian era (1271-1368). It was delivered by river barge : the production intended to the south of China left for Canton, in 900 km of Jingdezhen. Canton played a major role in Chinese trade since the 16th century, before the coming of Europeans in China because it simultaneously had a double maritime and fluvial access, that facilitated exchanges. Thereafter, in 1699, the Kangxi emperor authorized the opening to Europeans and it was the only city where they are authorized to make trade.
Canton was first a transaction place between different European India Companies, but rapidly in the second part of the 18th century it became a production place. Porcelain decorators came to install to win time and export white sets of Jingdezhen.
The decors were organized around pastoral scenes, religious themes or historical events. The craftsmen tried to copy as faithfully as possible the drawers of their European clients. Traditionally, the enamels decor of Canton is polychrome, in pink and/or green tones with more or less gilt highlights.