A large Chinese export porcelain ‘Soldier’ vase decorated with 5 dragons, 20th century
A large Chinese export porcelain ‘Soldier’ vase decorated with 5 dragons, 20th century
While the association between “soldier vase” and their sentinel-like appearance seems apparent, the term actually originates from a unique diplomatic transaction, highlighting the European nobility’s admiration for Chinese luxury goods during the China Trade Period.
Augustus the Strong of Saxony, whose reign spanned from 1694 to 1733, harbored an obsession for Chinese porcelain. In negotiations with Frederick the Great of Prussia in 1717, Augustus traded the newly-minted leader 600 cavalrymen, known as dragoons, for a collection of 150 Chinese porcelain vases. Ever since, they’ve been known as soldier vases, or sometimes, dragoon vases.
During this era, producing ceramic pieces of such magnitude in Europe was utterly implausible. The production of hard, true, white porcelain, essential for crafting these vases, was a craft exclusively mastered in Jindezhen, China, for the majority of this period.
