Lot Essay
See a similar ewer illustrated in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods, pp. 98-99, no. 8, where Professor Liu Xinyuan discusses the origins and functions of monk's cap ewers. He dates the 'sweet white'-glazed ewers to the early part of the Yongle reign period.
Cf. other published examples with this decoration illustrated by Jenyns, Ming Pottery and Porcelain, pl. 26a for an example in the British Museum; by Brankston, Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen, pl. 2(b) and fig. 8; in the Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Min Chiu Society, 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Catalogue, no. 150; and by Palmgren in Selected Chinese Antiquities from the Collection of Gustaf Adolf, Crown Prince of Sweden, pl. 96 with details as figs. 285-288, now in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm. Another example but with a Yongle mark from the Carl Kempe collection, now in the Ekolsund Museum, Sweeden, is illustrated by D. Lion-Goldschmidt, La Porcelaine Ming, no. 40
Cf. other published examples with this decoration illustrated by Jenyns, Ming Pottery and Porcelain, pl. 26a for an example in the British Museum; by Brankston, Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen, pl. 2(b) and fig. 8; in the Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Min Chiu Society, 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Catalogue, no. 150; and by Palmgren in Selected Chinese Antiquities from the Collection of Gustaf Adolf, Crown Prince of Sweden, pl. 96 with details as figs. 285-288, now in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm. Another example but with a Yongle mark from the Carl Kempe collection, now in the Ekolsund Museum, Sweeden, is illustrated by D. Lion-Goldschmidt, La Porcelaine Ming, no. 40