COLLECTABLES

JOHN MCPHEE EVALUATES A PAIR OF PRETTY VASES FROM THE START OF LAST CENTURY.

I WAS WONDERING

if you can give me any information about these figurines/vases. They have been in our family for a while. No one knows anything about their origin, although we did think they could be French. They are about 38 centimetres tall.

Rhonda Burke, Newcastle, NSW

French, German or Austrian? It is difficult to be certain of the origin of this pair of vases (shown front and side above). They were made in about 1900-1910 and are examples of the fashion for subjects that evoke a mythical era of a simple rustic life. Curiously, there are several references to love and freedom. One young girl carries a cage from which Cupid, with his quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder, has presumably escaped. The other carries a water jar from which the putto wishes to drink, symbolic of purity and truth seeking. Both are decorated with mistletoe, which is associated with love and peace, and brings good luck.

These may have been flower vases used to decorate a dinner table. I wonder if they were once accompanied by another two featuring young men, who would have been courting the women of your vases?

John Mcphee is an art historian who has worked in art museums for 30 years and was curator of Australian Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Australia.