Lot 179 A Chinese blue and white 'Peacocks and Cranes' garden stool

A Chinese blue and white 'Peacocks and Cranes' garden stool

Jiajing

未知

€ 20.000 – € 40.000

H: H. 36,2 cm

未知

Heavily potted and of cylindrical drum form, the garden seat is surmounted by a slightly domed top and applied to either side with moulded mythical beast-mask handles. Raised horizontal bands of rounded studs encircle the upper and lower sections, imitating the metal bosses found on contemporary leather drums. The body is finely painted in rich underglaze cobalt blue with cranes amidst flowering shrubs and pierced rockwork in a continuous garden landscape, among other birds in flight. The domed top is decorated with cranes in flight amongst scrolling clouds surrounding a central floral medallion, while the shoulder and foot are enriched with formal floral and geometric borders.
Porcelain garden seats of this type became highly fashionable during the Zhengde, Jiajing and Wanli reigns, when they were prized as both practical garden furnishings and decorative objects. Their form derives from leather-covered drums, with the applied studs and mask handles faithfully translating earlier prototypes into porcelain. The popularity of these stools extended well beyond China, blue and white examples continued to be produced for both the domestic and export markets into the Chongzhen period, as demonstrated by a closely related garden seat recovered from the Hatcher Cargo.
此墩胎體厚重，作圓筒鼓形，頂面微隆，兩側貼塑瑞獸面首形耳。器身上下各環飾凸起的鼓釘紋，仿自當時皮鼓上的金屬乳釘。腹部以濃麗青花通景描繪園林花鳥圖，仙鶴置身於花木與玲瓏洞石之間，空中另有禽鳥飛翔。隆起的頂面繪群鶴翱翔於卷雲之間，環繞中央團花，肩部及近足處則飾規整的花卉與幾何邊紋。
此類瓷製鼓墩在正德、嘉靖及萬曆年間蔚為流行，既可作園林坐具，亦是重要的陳設器。其造型源自蒙皮鼓，貼塑乳釘及獸面耳均是對早期皮鼓構件的瓷質摹仿。此類鼓墩的流行並不限於中國，至崇禎年間仍持續燒造青花實例，兼供國內及外銷市場，「哈徹沉船」出水的一件相近鼓墩，即可作為佐證。
Reference:
A related seat, in the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated in Wang Qingzheng, 'Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong 1993, p. 231, fig. 5'.
Provenance:
A Portuguese private collection, Lisbon.
Christie's London, 10 November 2015, 'Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art', lot 210. (sold GBP 20.000,00) (link)
Luis Alegria, Porto, with their label.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 29 March 2016, accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scan)
Exhibited:
TEFAF Maastricht, Luis Alegria, 2016.