Published: The Residence of Mr. Basil Ionides and the Honorable Mrs. Nellie Ionides, The Antique Collector, issue 3/6, April 1955, page 50. Photographed in situ on the shelf in the staircase hall of the Ionides’ residence, Riverside House.

China, 1662-1722. Of pear shape, brightly enameled with three court ladies conversing on a terrace, observed by a courtier, the background depicting pavilions and auspicious objects, the spout formed as a horned beast mask with an aperture for a metal pipe, the upper rim decorated with bands of pendent ruyi-heads and lozenge diaper, the foot encircled by a band of floral sawtooth. The reverse flattened and pierced with a small circular aperture for mounting.

Provenance: The Ionides Collection, and thence by family descent to Lady Camilla Panufnik. The base inscribed in red lacquer, ‘663’. Born to a leading Anglo-Jewish family with trade connections in China and Japan, Nellie Ionides (1883-1962) was well known as a collector, connoisseur, philanthropist, and expert on Chinese porcelain. She married Basil Ionides (1884-1950), a member of the Greek shipping family, who, like her own, were great patrons and philanthropists. Basil Ionides is particularly remembered as the pioneering Art Deco designer of The Savoy Theatre and Claridges. Nellie and Basil Ionides shared a love of the arts and were both collectors, bequeathing items to various museums, including the Victoria and Albert. Nellie had a special admiration for Chinese porcelain, especially the blue and white and famille verte wares of the Kangxi period, and has been credited with having an almost intuitive gift for discovering museum quality pieces in the Brighton Lanes, the Tunbridge Wells Pantiles, and the antique shops and auction houses of Sussex, Surrey, and London. Her granddaughter Lady Camilla Panufnik (b. 1937, née Jessel), the widow of Polish composer and conductor Andrzej Panufnik, has observed: “My grandmother, Nellie Ionides, was an impassioned collector. She loved each item that she found, had restored and brought home. At the end of her life, when she realized that almost everything would have to be sold to cover her death duties, she used to say she only wished she could be present at the sales to see who bought her favorite treasures, and indeed, to see how much they all went for under the auctioneer's hammer.”
Condition: Good condition with some old wear, expected traces of use, and minor firing irregularities. The upper rim with few chips. Some flaking to enamels. Overall displaying exceptionally well.

Weight: 4.5 kg
Dimensions: Height 39.3 cm

Wall fountains of this kind are based on European prototypes made from various metals, probably for the Dutch market, since these tend to date to the late 17th century, when there was still a flourishing export market of Famille Verte porcelain in Holland through the V.O.C. There is no evidence that fountains of this specific form were ever intended to have basins underneath them.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related famille verte wall fountain, dated 1710, in the collection of Mompesson House, Wiltshire, accession number NT 723472.