THREE CHINESE CLOISONNE ENAMEL TIBETAN EWERS AND COVERS, DUOMUHU

JINGTAI SIX-CHARACTER CAST MARKS, 17TH CENTURY

Details

THREE CHINESE CLOISONNE ENAMEL TIBETAN EWERS AND COVERS, DUOMUHU
JINGTAI SIX-CHARACTER CAST MARKS, 17TH CENTURY
Each tall, cylindrical body divided into four registers decorated with pairs of wildly leaping dragons confronted on and divided by flaming pearls between raised gilt-copper bands, the curved upright spouts issuing from the jaws of a mythical beast opposite the dragon fish handle, all below a lobed, crown-form rim decorated on the front with a leaping dragon and on the back with a horse racing above waves, each flared cover decorated on top with a dragon below a globular finial and on the underside with clouds and flames, the nianhao in a rectangle on the gilded base
22 in. (55.9 cm.) high (3)

Lot Essay

A ewer of similar form and size decorated with dragons and dated 17th century is illustrated by H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinese Cloisonne: The Pierre Uldry Collection, The Asia Society Galleries, New York, 1989, no. 159. On the Uldry example, however, the crown-shaped rim is actually part of the hinged cover. Ewers of this type, both in cloisonné enamel and porcelain, are copying earlier Tibetan proto-types that were most likely made of some other material that needed to be held together with leather or metal straps. The Tibetan name for this type of vessel means 'container for butter', but they were also used for milk and wine.

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