Yuan Dynasty
The body of conical form, decorated with scrolling chrysanthemums, daylilies and cash emblems in dark blue underglaze between raised borders, set with a loop handle that meets the shoulder at a ruyi motif below the flanged rim resembling a monk's cap.
10cm (3.9in) high.
Footnotes
元 青花僧帽壺
Provenance: Acquired from R & G McPherson Antiques, London, November 2010 (collector's notes)
Published and Illustrated: M. White, Drinking at the Whites' House: Ceramics from the Whites' House collection, vol. 2, n.p., 2021, p.44
Such ewers take their name from the distinctive crown-shaped feature that adorns the top of the vessel and likened to Chinese monk caps. The present lot is likely modelled after usually much larger metal ewers that were used to hold milk, as seen by the raised ridges encircling the body which imitate welded seams.
See a similar ewer, Yuan dynasty, in M. Crick, , Geneva: Foundation Baur, 2010, pp.236-7.