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Lot Essay
The Sanskrit inscriptions are likely to be Buddhist mantras.
Bells are rare forms in porcelain and those with blue and white decoration are particularly rare. A blue and white bell with a similar dragon handle to the current lot from the Tianqi period (1621-1627) was sold at Christie's London, 12 November 2002, lot 13. Another bell of the same size and form to the Tianqi bell is in the collection of the Palace Museum, see Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red II, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, pp. 232-233, no. 212. Compare also to a similarly shaped Qianlong white-glazed bell in the Palace Museum, illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 129, no. 118. A 'snowflake' blue-glazed bell dating to the Kangxi period with a dragon handle from the Qing Court Collection, is also illustrated op. cit., p. 90, no. 83.
The bell's blue and white decoration is in a similar 'pencilled' style to a group of Qianlong blue and white stem bowls with leafy lotus scrolls and Sanskrit characters. A stem bowl of this type was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 November 2007, lot 1698.
An identical bell from the collection of Mrs S.K. de Forest was sold at Christie's London, 15 May 2012, lot 389.
Bells are rare forms in porcelain and those with blue and white decoration are particularly rare. A blue and white bell with a similar dragon handle to the current lot from the Tianqi period (1621-1627) was sold at Christie's London, 12 November 2002, lot 13. Another bell of the same size and form to the Tianqi bell is in the collection of the Palace Museum, see Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red II, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, pp. 232-233, no. 212. Compare also to a similarly shaped Qianlong white-glazed bell in the Palace Museum, illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 129, no. 118. A 'snowflake' blue-glazed bell dating to the Kangxi period with a dragon handle from the Qing Court Collection, is also illustrated op. cit., p. 90, no. 83.
The bell's blue and white decoration is in a similar 'pencilled' style to a group of Qianlong blue and white stem bowls with leafy lotus scrolls and Sanskrit characters. A stem bowl of this type was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 November 2007, lot 1698.
An identical bell from the collection of Mrs S.K. de Forest was sold at Christie's London, 15 May 2012, lot 389.