A ewer of this shape also decorated with the bajixiang, but in reserve on a green ground from the Victoria and ALbert Museum, London, is illustrated by Rose Kerr, Chinese Ceramics, p.115, fig.101, where the author notes that it was specially designed for use on Buddhist altars of the Tibetan-inspired Lamaist sect which delighted in exotic monster decorations and beaded borders. From a special category of official wares, it was produced for one of the palaces and temples of Peking and Chengde, the Qing court's summer retreat in the hills north of Peking. Compare the example enamelled on a gold ground included in the Hong Kong Museum of Art Exhibition, The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Catalogue, p.113, no.68; and the example carved in shallow relief on a lime green ground included in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, special Exhibition, of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Porcelain, Catalogue, no.110. For an example painted and enamelled in underglaze-blue and iron-red with dragons, cf. Chinese Porcelain, The S.C.Ko Tianminlou Collection, pl.118. An example enamelled with only scrolling floral meanders rather than the bajixiang was sold in Hong Kong, 26 October 1993, lot 254