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Lot Essay
The pear-shaped body is superbly potted, with an elegantly curved spout joined to the neck by a cloud-shaped strut, and an elegantly curved handle on the opposite side. The slender neck is decorated with a band of upright plantain leaves above a lotus scroll. The body is painted on each side with a large quatrefoil cartouche, one enclosing a fruiting peach spray and the other a fruiting loquat spray, each flanked by flower sprays.
The form of the present ewer is believed to derive from the Middle Eastern metalwork prototype, as exemplified by a Byzantine gilt-metal ewer in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no.: 17.190.1704). Although the Byzantine example lacks a spout, the shared shape and function suggest a clear lineage.
Ewers of this form from the Yongle period are known with a variety of decorative schemes. A Yongle ewer with peach design is illustrated in Imperial Hongwu and Yongle porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1996, no. 58. An almost identical Yongle ewer with fruiting sprays is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 43, no. 41 (fig. 1). The National Museum of China also holds a Yongle blue and white ewer with nearly identical design, illustrated in Studies on the Collection of the National Museum of China- Ming, Shanghai, 2007, p. 38, no. 13 (fig. 2). This iconic floral and fruiting pattern proved so enduring that it was copied in subsequent reigns, and notably, the design of fruit enclosed within panels appears to be the only design from this repertoire that Qing dynasty potters chose to replicate. A Xuande example painted with the same decoration is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection no.: gu00143613.
Compare further to Yongle ewers decorated with peony scrolls, one formerly in the Manno Art Museum, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2018, lot 2905 (fig. 3); and another formerly in the Okada Museum of Art, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 22 November 2025, lot 1025.
The form of the present ewer is believed to derive from the Middle Eastern metalwork prototype, as exemplified by a Byzantine gilt-metal ewer in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no.: 17.190.1704). Although the Byzantine example lacks a spout, the shared shape and function suggest a clear lineage.
Ewers of this form from the Yongle period are known with a variety of decorative schemes. A Yongle ewer with peach design is illustrated in Imperial Hongwu and Yongle porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1996, no. 58. An almost identical Yongle ewer with fruiting sprays is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 43, no. 41 (fig. 1). The National Museum of China also holds a Yongle blue and white ewer with nearly identical design, illustrated in Studies on the Collection of the National Museum of China- Ming, Shanghai, 2007, p. 38, no. 13 (fig. 2). This iconic floral and fruiting pattern proved so enduring that it was copied in subsequent reigns, and notably, the design of fruit enclosed within panels appears to be the only design from this repertoire that Qing dynasty potters chose to replicate. A Xuande example painted with the same decoration is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection no.: gu00143613.
Compare further to Yongle ewers decorated with peony scrolls, one formerly in the Manno Art Museum, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2018, lot 2905 (fig. 3); and another formerly in the Okada Museum of Art, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 22 November 2025, lot 1025.