.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This particular ewer form is a Lamaist Buddhist ritual vessel, which derived its name, sengmaohu, monk's cap ewer, from the shape of its upper section, resembling a Tibetan monk's hat. The Tibetan shape has its origins in the Yuan dynasty. Ewers of this form were made for the visit of the fifth Tibetan hierarch, Halima, to Nanjing in 1407, where he was invited by the Yongle Emperor to officiate at religious services.
Among these and the gifts presented to high Tibetan Lamas would have been 'sweet white' monk's cap ewers similar to the current example. A number are still preserved in Tibet, and an example from the Tibet Museum was exhibited at the Shanghai Museum in 2001. See Treasures from Snow Mountains - Gems of Tibetan Cultural Relics, Shanghai Museum, 2001, p. 177, no. 88. A similar ewer from the collection of Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p.109, pl. 100.
Yongle tianbai or 'sweet white' glazed monk’s cap ewers are either undecorated or incised with foliate scroll, text from a sutra, or the bajixiang, as in the present example, on the widest body.
Similar ewers, with and without incised decoration have been excavated at the Ming imperial kiln sites, such as the example included in the exhibition, Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods, excavated from the site of the Ming Imperial factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1989, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 8.
Compare to other published examples incised with the bajixiang decoration, including one illustrated by Jenyns, Ming Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1988, pl. 26a; one exhibited in Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Min Chiu Society, 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong, 1990, Catalogue, no. 150; and one sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 25 October 1993, lot 731.
Among these and the gifts presented to high Tibetan Lamas would have been 'sweet white' monk's cap ewers similar to the current example. A number are still preserved in Tibet, and an example from the Tibet Museum was exhibited at the Shanghai Museum in 2001. See Treasures from Snow Mountains - Gems of Tibetan Cultural Relics, Shanghai Museum, 2001, p. 177, no. 88. A similar ewer from the collection of Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in Monochrome Porcelain, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p.109, pl. 100.
Yongle tianbai or 'sweet white' glazed monk’s cap ewers are either undecorated or incised with foliate scroll, text from a sutra, or the bajixiang, as in the present example, on the widest body.
Similar ewers, with and without incised decoration have been excavated at the Ming imperial kiln sites, such as the example included in the exhibition, Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods, excavated from the site of the Ming Imperial factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1989, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 8.
Compare to other published examples incised with the bajixiang decoration, including one illustrated by Jenyns, Ming Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1988, pl. 26a; one exhibited in Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, Min Chiu Society, 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong, 1990, Catalogue, no. 150; and one sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 25 October 1993, lot 731.