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Lot Essay
One or two of these crab tureens seem to be known. One, published by Beurdeley, op. cit., p. 45 and by A. du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, was sold Christie's London, 1 March 1976, lot 175. It may be the present example. The other was sold Sotheby's Monaco, 29 February 1992, and illustrated on the cover of the catalogue.
The animal-form tureen was an amusing conceit made by European faience factories, soft-paste factories and hard-paste factories, and quickly taken up by the Chinese. Known Chinese export models include the famed boar's heads, oxen heads, geese, ducks and roosters, and also the aquatic animals, turtles, fish and, of course, crabs.
The animal-form tureen was an amusing conceit made by European faience factories, soft-paste factories and hard-paste factories, and quickly taken up by the Chinese. Known Chinese export models include the famed boar's heads, oxen heads, geese, ducks and roosters, and also the aquatic animals, turtles, fish and, of course, crabs.