An Imperial Chinese flambé vase
An Imperial Chinese flambé vase, fanghu, Xuantong mark and of the period, with a wide body tapering towards the quatrefoil mouth rim, the neck flanked with lug handles, covered overall with an unctuous glaze of dark copper-red red tone streaked with dark mauve, thinning to white at the rim and sides, lobed edges and handles, the base unglazed and incised with the six-character Xuantong mark, the vase 30cm high, with carved hardwood standProvenance:By Family descentTatiana Browning (younger sister of Peter Carson) Tatiana Carson (née Staheyeff, died 1981) Gifted from the Court of Emperor Xuantong (Puyi) in 1923 to Joseph Baldwin Carson (died 1949) Sold with a photocopy of the original accompanying letter, dated 27th June, addressed to Mr Joseph B. Carson from the Imperial Ministry of the Household at the Forbidden City. The letter thanks Mr Carson, then second secretary of the British Legation in Peking, for his assistance in fighting the fire at the Jianfu Palace Garden complex in the Forbidden City on the 27th June [1923]. At the time Mr and Mrs J Carson, recently married, were dancing at a party on the roof of the Grand Hotel de Pekin when they saw a red glare light up the night sky to the north. The Carson's and Irene Staheyeff (Tatiana Carson's sister) hurried to the eastern gate of the palace and when access was eventually granted at about 2.50am were swept along, with the Italian fire engines, into the Forbidden Palace. As there was no running water in the Forbidden City, until hoses could be organised, Tatiana organised a human chain of buckets of water and, together with her husband and sister, did what they could to fight the flames. The fire raged and despite their efforts the Jianfu Palace garden complex was destroyed, and the area lay as rubble until a major restoration project was completed in 2005. The Emperor Puyi's English tutor, Reginald Johnson, writes in his book, Twilight in the Forbidden City, 1934, 'I found the Emperor and Empress standing in a heap of charred wood, sadly contemplating the spectacle, the flames were still raging when I arrived. Just after I had reached the Emperor I was astonished to see three Europeans, one of them a lady, all in evening dress emerging from the clouds of smoke. They were Mr Gascoigne and Mr Carson of the British Legation staff, and Mrs Carson. After I had presented them to the Emperor and Empress, who at once thanked them for the zeal and courage they had shown in helping fight the fire, they told me they had see it from the roof garden of the Grand Hotel and had at once driven to the Forbidden City. Baffled at first in their attempts to pass the guards they had succeeded in making their way through the gates by mingling with Italian fireman.'The following day three ministers of the Imperial household thanked them for their help and the Emperor commanded that Mr Carson be presented with four porcelain vases and four bowls, detailed in a hand written list, of which this vase forms one of the original four vases described.For a more detailed account of the fire, including a photograph of Tatiana Staheyeff (later Carson) and Lucy Alston in Peking, circa 1921-1922, see May Holdsworth, The Palace of Established Happiness: Restoring a Garden in the Forbidden City, 2008, pages 24-25.The pair to this vase was sold at Dreweatts, 18th May, 2022, lot 200清宣統 大清宣統年制款窯變釉雙耳壺拍品來源：英國駐民國二等參讚高爾森家族舊藏。1923年6月27日，高爾森先生及夫人於建福宮大火事件時於紫禁城附近參加一個聚會，發現紫禁城著火後便參與滅火，溥儀著內務府於火災後作為謝禮，贈送高爾森家族四件瓷瓶及瓷盤，該瓷瓶便為當時的一件。
Condition Report: in good condition other than very tiny glazed chips around foot rim wood stand with slight warping The photographs of the family taken in Beijing are for reference only and are not part of the lot.The photocopied documents are sold with the lot
Bid on this lot
An Imperial Chinese flambé vase, fanghu, Xuantong mark and of the period, with a wide body tapering towards the quatrefoil mouth rim, the neck flanked with lug handles, covered overall with an unctuous glaze of dark copper-red red tone streaked with dark mauve, thinning to white at the rim and sides, lobed edges and handles, the base unglazed and incised with the six-character Xuantong mark, the vase 30cm high, with carved hardwood standProvenance:By Family descentTatiana Browning (younger sister of Peter Carson) Tatiana Carson (née Staheyeff, died 1981) Gifted from the Court of Emperor Xuantong (Puyi) in 1923 to Joseph Baldwin Carson (died 1949) Sold with a photocopy of the original accompanying letter, dated 27th June, addressed to Mr Joseph B. Carson from the Imperial Ministry of the Household at the Forbidden City. The letter thanks Mr Carson, then second secretary of the British Legation in Peking, for his assistance in fighting the fire at the Jianfu Palace Garden complex in the Forbidden City on the 27th June [1923]. At the time Mr and Mrs J Carson, recently married, were dancing at a party on the roof of the Grand Hotel de Pekin when they saw a red glare light up the night sky to the north. The Carson's and Irene Staheyeff (Tatiana Carson's sister) hurried to the eastern gate of the palace and when access was eventually granted at about 2.50am were swept along, with the Italian fire engines, into the Forbidden Palace. As there was no running water in the Forbidden City, until hoses could be organised, Tatiana organised a human chain of buckets of water and, together with her husband and sister, did what they could to fight the flames. The fire raged and despite their efforts the Jianfu Palace garden complex was destroyed, and the area lay as rubble until a major restoration project was completed in 2005. The Emperor Puyi's English tutor, Reginald Johnson, writes in his book, Twilight in the Forbidden City, 1934, 'I found the Emperor and Empress standing in a heap of charred wood, sadly contemplating the spectacle, the flames were still raging when I arrived. Just after I had reached the Emperor I was astonished to see three Europeans, one of them a lady, all in evening dress emerging from the clouds of smoke. They were Mr Gascoigne and Mr Carson of the British Legation staff, and Mrs Carson. After I had presented them to the Emperor and Empress, who at once thanked them for the zeal and courage they had shown in helping fight the fire, they told me they had see it from the roof garden of the Grand Hotel and had at once driven to the Forbidden City. Baffled at first in their attempts to pass the guards they had succeeded in making their way through the gates by mingling with Italian fireman.'The following day three ministers of the Imperial household thanked them for their help and the Emperor commanded that Mr Carson be presented with four porcelain vases and four bowls, detailed in a hand written list, of which this vase forms one of the original four vases described.For a more detailed account of the fire, including a photograph of Tatiana Staheyeff (later Carson) and Lucy Alston in Peking, circa 1921-1922, see May Holdsworth, The Palace of Established Happiness: Restoring a Garden in the Forbidden City, 2008, pages 24-25.The pair to this vase was sold at Dreweatts, 18th May, 2022, lot 200清宣統 大清宣統年制款窯變釉雙耳壺拍品來源：英國駐民國二等參讚高爾森家族舊藏。1923年6月27日，高爾森先生及夫人於建福宮大火事件時於紫禁城附近參加一個聚會，發現紫禁城著火後便參與滅火，溥儀著內務府於火災後作為謝禮，贈送高爾森家族四件瓷瓶及瓷盤，該瓷瓶便為當時的一件。
Condition Report: in good condition other than very tiny glazed chips around foot rim wood stand with slight warping The photographs of the family taken in Beijing are for reference only and are not part of the lot.The photocopied documents are sold with the lot
