Kangxi
The fluted vessel decorated in underglaze blue, famille verte enamels and gilt with birds amongst floral bouquets and leafy flowering stems beneath a border of gilt fleurs-de-lis style medallions and floral ruyi-form panels.
18.5cm (7 1/4in) long.
Footnotes
清康熙 五彩花卉紋便壺
Provenance: Acquired from Christophe Perlès, Paris, June 2010 (collector's notes)
Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: The Oriental Ceramic Society, China Without Dragons: Rare Pieces from Oriental Ceramic Society Members, London, 2016, p.330, no.196
M. White, Living at the Whites' House: Ceramics from the Mary and Peter White collection, vol. 4, n.p., 2023, p.51 (Published and Illustrated)
Bourdaloues were manufactured solely for the European market and were used as portable female chamber pots, supposedly named after a priest that gave long sermons. The present lot was likely commissioned for export for the French market, seen by the subtle adoption of the fleur-de-lis amongst the more Chinese style famille verte bird and flower motifs.