Name: WHITE Digital Agency
Price range: $

All artworks

Pouring Vessel for Oil, Ming Dynasty, Wanli Period (1573 - 1620), c. 1590 - 1600

Unknown Artist

Exhibited by Rolleston

Material Porcelain decorated in underglaze cobalt blue

Dimensions 18.8 x 10.5 cm

Place of Creation Jingdezhen, China.

Price €19.500

Status Vetted

About the Work

Modelled in globular pomegranate form, this cruet or ewer is delicately painted with panels of ruyi heads, key fret, water plants, insects, bamboo shoots and sprays of blossoming flowers in contrasting shades of bright underglaze cobalt blue. The serpentine spout has leaves boldly moulded in relief at its base and the tapering neck is painted with a proud bird perching atop a rock and ends in a six-point ‘pomegranate’ star. It was made for the Middle Eastern or European markets, following earlier Islamic forms in metal.

This example is particularly elegant in shape and potted very finely, in contrast to thicker kendis. It is part of a special group of kraak pouring vessels that first appeared in the reign of Emperor Wanli, other examples of which are in the Franks Collection in the British Museum (inv. no. OA F.1579), the Lady Lever Art Gallery and the F. Lught Collection in the Fondation Custodia, Institut Néerlandais, to the latter of which the present example bears particular close relation in both form and decoration.

Further related examples can be found in the Princesshof in Leeuwarden (inv. no. 2501), the Groninger Museum in Groningen (inv. no 1960-57-B), the Bell Collection in the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto (inv. no. G99.1.7) and the Grandidier Collection in the Musée Guimet (inv. no. G.1005).

In Chinese culture, the pomegranate (shi-liu) symbolises rejuvenation, abundance and a blessed future. Painted throughout with blooms and auspicious motifs, the ewer is also symbol of prosperity and good fortune.

Show moreless

Provenance

Jorge Welsh, Lisbon
Private Collection: Lisbon, Portugal

Literature

Rinaldi, M., 'Kraak Porcelain: A Moment in the History of the Trade' (London, 1989), pp. 177-9, esp. fig. 228
Welsh, J., 'Kraak: The Rise of Global Trade' (Lisbon/London, 2008), pp. 176-9, 262-3