Late 19th Century Opaline Vase

Bulb-bottomed vase with long neck decorated with multicolored enamel and gold. It is embellished with arabesques, flowers and latticework patterns in orientalist taste on a marbled Bordeaux background. Remnants of a mark underneath. The fascination with the orient and its exotic decoration dominated the 18th-19th centuries. It was China that started the enthusiasm for the costumes and artistic shapes that came from faraway lands. However, as a result of conquests and colonial Expansion, this fascination saw the displacement of its origins. During the 18th century, Chinese and Turkish styles invaded the salons and gardens of royalty as well as affluent esthetes who prided themselves on their taste for The Orient. From then on, baths were Turkish, furniture was lacquered, MIddle Eastern tapestries and cashmere shawls from India were fashionable. During the previous century, Moorish style spread with Alhambra of Grenada, and several Turkish boudoirs appeared in Europe. During the 19th century, Orientalism made an important shift. For example, in 1829, Victor Hugo noted in his preface to Orientales, that the Orient has become a general preoccupation. Collectors were on the lookout for inaccessible or vanished lands, fascinated by the unusual or novel, or simply the extravagant satisfaction of a whim, circa 1900. Dimensions: L 4.7 in, W 4.7 in, H 12.6 in Dimensions: L 12 cm, W 12 cm, H 32 cm.