Lot Essay
For a similar, but larger (19.6 cm.), copper-red-glazed ewer that also has an apocryphal Xuande mark, but is dated to the Kangxi period, and is illustrated with a Xuande period prototype, see Gugong cong chuan shi ciqi zhenyan duibi - Lidai guyaozhi biaoben tulu, Beijing, 1998, pp. 123 and 122, nos. 97 and 96, respectively. On the Xuande example one can see that the globular body tapers towards the foot, the neck is shorter and flares more towards the rim, the spout has a more pronounced and longer arch, and the steps of the rim have a more rounded profile.