.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Ewers of this type belong to a group of porcelain ritual wares modelled after Tibetan metal prototypes that was specially commissioned by the Qing Court for placement on Buddhist altars for ceremonial use in palaces and temples either within the Forbidden Palace or the Bishushanzhuang in Chengde. Compare to two Qianlong famille rose altar ornaments (lot 2717) and a Jiaqing simulated gold altar ornament (lot 2716) also from this group in the present sale.
The present type of ewer is known as a ‘pure water ewer’ and was used by monks to pour holy water into the cupped hands of the person to be blessed. Two styles of these ewers were made during the Qianlong period, one with a slender silhouette including a pagoda-form cover, which first appeared during the Kangxi period; the other with a canopy-style mouth like the present example, which first appeared during the Qianlong period, and retained its popularity through the Jiaqing period. Compare a Kangxi and a Qianlong blue and white Tibetan-style ewer of the first type in the Palace Museum, Beijing, with the Qianlong example showing close resemblance in form to its predecessor but painted on the body of the exterior with the Eight Buddhist Emblems supported on lotus blooms instead of a tasselled garland with lion masks, see Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 26, no. 9 (fig. 1), and The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2010, p. 154, no. 140 (fig. 2), respectively. Compare also with a Kangxi doucai Tibetan-style ewer with a cover possibly replaced during the Qianlong period, illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuyao ciqi, vol. 1-1, Beijing, 2005, pp. 200-201, no. 63 (fig. 3), which shares the same decoration as its contemporary blue and white ewer.
The majority of the Qianlong Tibetan-style ewers are of the second type, and are decorated in a variety of schemes, see for example, four variously decorated ewers in the National Palace Museum, formerly kept at the Bishushanzhuang in Chengde, illustrated in Monarchy and Its Buddhist Way: Tibetan-Buddhist Ritual Implements in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, pp. 188-189, no. 95 (fig. 4).
Only two other Qianlong doucai ewers sharing the same decoration as the present ewer appear to be known, one is in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated by He Li, Chinese Ceramics, London, 1996, no. 162; the other was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31 March 1992, lot 626, which has restoration to the spout and small beaded areas.
The present type of ewer is known as a ‘pure water ewer’ and was used by monks to pour holy water into the cupped hands of the person to be blessed. Two styles of these ewers were made during the Qianlong period, one with a slender silhouette including a pagoda-form cover, which first appeared during the Kangxi period; the other with a canopy-style mouth like the present example, which first appeared during the Qianlong period, and retained its popularity through the Jiaqing period. Compare a Kangxi and a Qianlong blue and white Tibetan-style ewer of the first type in the Palace Museum, Beijing, with the Qianlong example showing close resemblance in form to its predecessor but painted on the body of the exterior with the Eight Buddhist Emblems supported on lotus blooms instead of a tasselled garland with lion masks, see Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 26, no. 9 (fig. 1), and The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2010, p. 154, no. 140 (fig. 2), respectively. Compare also with a Kangxi doucai Tibetan-style ewer with a cover possibly replaced during the Qianlong period, illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuyao ciqi, vol. 1-1, Beijing, 2005, pp. 200-201, no. 63 (fig. 3), which shares the same decoration as its contemporary blue and white ewer.
The majority of the Qianlong Tibetan-style ewers are of the second type, and are decorated in a variety of schemes, see for example, four variously decorated ewers in the National Palace Museum, formerly kept at the Bishushanzhuang in Chengde, illustrated in Monarchy and Its Buddhist Way: Tibetan-Buddhist Ritual Implements in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, pp. 188-189, no. 95 (fig. 4).
Only two other Qianlong doucai ewers sharing the same decoration as the present ewer appear to be known, one is in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated by He Li, Chinese Ceramics, London, 1996, no. 162; the other was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31 March 1992, lot 626, which has restoration to the spout and small beaded areas.