KANGXI

The shape of these ewers probably copies Spanish or Italian Renaissance silver ewers of the 16th Century and examples in Chinese porcelain are rare. It is particularly unusual to find ewers of this shape with powder-blue grounds reserved with blue and white panels; more frequently such ewers are decorated with famille verte panels. Compare the ewer similar to the present lot but with famille verte panels, from the Salting Bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum illustrated by W. B. Honey, Chinese Porcelain, London, 1927, pl.117b, also illustrated by A. du Boulay, Chinese Porcelain, 1973, colour pl.91; and another famille verte example, formerly in the Maurice Tournet Collection, Paris, illustrated by M. Beurdeley, op.cit., 1962, cat.53, p.160. Compare also the blue and white ewer of this shape with a floral design, bearing the arms of Dom Pedro de Lancastre, which can be dated to circa 1715-20, illustrated by N. de Castro, Chinese Porcelain and the Heraldry of the Empire, 1988, p.52. Another, without arms, was sold in these Rooms, 6 April 1998, lot 25.