Baluster Jar from the Private Antiquity Collection of Ann & Gordon Getty

Large porcelain baluster jar with lid stamped with apocryphal blue seal mark owned by Ann and Gordon Getty. Richly painted with vibrant pine trees, deer, rocks, and blossoms symbolizing longevity and prosperity. A treasured find for collectors and enthusiasts of unique and one-of-a-kind pieces with a story to tell!
 
Ann Getty was a paleoanthropologist, arts patron, interior designer, author, and one of America’s legendary tastemakers. She married Gordon Getty, the 4th son of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, billionaire philanthropist and classical music composer. They were chic intellectual San Francisco socialites who spent a lifetime supporting and advocating for the arts, music, science, and education. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, and Getty Villa exhibit J. Paul Getty’s private art and antiquity collections, the J. Paul Getty Trust fund is the world’s wealthiest art institution.
 
Anne was raised on a farm in northern California, then graduated from UC Berkeley with dual degrees in Biology and Anthropology. She wholeheartedly worked on and supported archaeological digs in Ethiopia and Turkey, searching for human fossils and artifacts, studying genetics and DNA structures. She was unpretentious and hands on, physically and intellectually in sync with scholarly scientists, craftsmen and artists. There’s a photo of her restoring an ancient buffalo’s fossilized horns at the National Museum of Ethiopia. These very same personality traits and mannerisms, her curiosity, keen eye and great attention to detail are apparent in her approach to collecting furniture, art, textiles, pottery, etc.
 
Ann spent decades fully immersing herself studying art and antiques, first a student, then connoisseur. She knew the provenance and story behind every piece she bought. She taught herself by observing, experimenting and absorbing everything. She employed artists that became her great teachers. Before launching her interior design firm she hired legendary designers Albert Hadley and Sister Parish, then John Stefanidis to design her Pacific Heights estate, an early 1900’s sprawling Italianate mansion with views of the Golden Gate Bridge, designed by architect Willis Polk. The estate was nicknamed the “San Francisco Embassy” for its lavish political and cultural parties. Shortly after opening her interior design firm she launched "The Ann Getty House Collection," offering original and authentic furniture reproductions from her own collections and inspiration produced by Luis Rossi of L. Rossi Antiques in San Francisco. It is this Pacific Heights estate sale that this pottery piece was acquired from.