This vase is of a pair with the vase bearing the inventory number
400-0091. It features gilt decorations on a turquoise ground colour. Each side features a painted scene contained within a gilded oval frame. On the front is a hunting scene, while the back features a lake landscape, with the signature ‘Leber’ on the bottom right corner. The hunting scene is an adaptation of
Retour de chasse ou Le Présent du chasseur (Return from the Hunt or The Hunter’s Present), dated circa 1600-1700, attributed to the Dutch painter Philips Wouwerman. This painting by Wouwerman, who was known for his hunting scenes, is today in the Louvre Museum’s collection.
The painting on the front of the vase has a castle in the background, while the foreground pictures an interlude during the hunt. A young man calms a rearing horse, while the horse’s rider helps a woman dismount from her own horse. A fourth figure watches them, holding a rifle in his left hand and a hawk in his right. Beside the horses, a hunting dog reclines next to the spoils of the hunt: a rabbit.
The vase’s lid is topped with a gilt bronze finial in the shape of an acorn. Two ram’s heads on either side of the vase connect the gilt bronze handles to the main body. The vase’s lid, neck and foot are decorated with gilded foliate motifs. The corners of the gilt bronze plinth feature relief decorations of flowers and leaves.
