A RARE BRONZE MONK'S CAP EWER, SENGMAO HU

Details

A RARE BRONZE MONK'S CAP EWER, SENGMAO HU
PROBABLY EARLY MING DYNASTY, 14TH/15TH CENTURY

Heavily cast, the tapering, high-shouldered body raised on a spreading pedestal foot and encircled by a pair of bowstring bands, with a raised edge at the base of the neck conforming to the outline of the waisted neck and the faceted, trough-like spout set opposite a curved handle with open back, the cup-shaped mouth with molded edge surmounted on one side by a shaped collar with inward rolled edge, and pierced with two small, irregular holes above the handle and the spout for the insertion of a pin which would have pierced the cover and held it in place, with a mottled reddish-brown and blackish-brown patina
12¼in. (31.1cm.) high

Exhibited

London, Michael Goedhuis, Chinese and Japanese Bronzes, A.D. 1100-1900, 1989, no. 51

Lot Essay

The shape of this ewer, which is Tibetan in form, is related to that of the white porcelain monk's cap ewers produced during the early Ming dynasty, which were either plain or incised with foliate scroll or the bajixiang. The porcelain examples, however, did not have a pedestal foot, as well as having other stylistic differences. Similar ewers, with and without incised decoration, have been excavated at the Ming imperial kiln sites. An example with incised decoration was 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, Catalogue, no. 8

A metal ewer in the National Gallery, Prague, with similar tall, spreading foot, high-shouldered body and curved handle bears comparison with the present example, as illustrated by Luber Hàjek in Chinese Art, London, no. 37