Wynn Magazine - Las Vegas
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/660157
photography by rischgitz/get t y images (blue VelVet room); © christie's images limited 2011 ( Vase) above: The only known similar vases were acquired by the Prince Regent, and seen here in an aquatint engraving of the Blue Velvet Room at Carlton House by Charles Wild, circa 1816. left: One of the Buccleuch vases without its mount. Christie's historians, the eight Buddhist and Daoist emblems, of central importance on the vases, are believed to bring blessings and har- mony: "The Lotus symbolizes purity and harmony; the Vase or Jar alludes to the elixir of life that stands for victory… the Twin Fish expresses the freedom and happiness that true knowledge brings." The only parallels known to these vases were acquired by the Prince Regent (George, Prince of Wales, later George IV), and are still in Buckingham Palace. To give a sense of the workmanship involved, the 1814 commission for the Prince Regent required 31 different craftsmen. Today, visitors can see the vases that originally adorned Carlton House in the palace's State Dining Room, transferred there when George became king. For Steve Wynn, who has been dubbed one of For Steve Wynn, acquiring vases was part of a goal to repatriate some of China's most important art. 58 the 21st century's "Medici buyers," acquiring the vases was part of a goal to repatriate some of China's most important art. Wynn began collect- ing Chinese art in 2006, when he purchased a rare red porcelain vase from the 14th-century Hongwu period and donated it to the Macau Special Administrative Region, where it is now in the per- manent collection of the Cultural Affairs Bureau's Macau Museum. "It's not only important that Macau expands economically, but also cultur- ally," he explained. When Wynn brought the Buccleuch vases back to China, he announced in a ceremony at Wynn Macau that returning the pieces was part of a continuing policy to add to the cultural enrichment of the community. "China is where the vases have their roots and their story," he said. And after a long trip abroad, collecting some embellishments on the way, the vases have found their way back home.