Lot 110 A Chinese blue and white ewer for the Persian market

A Chinese blue and white ewer for the Persian market

Jiajing/Wanli

未知

€ 6.000 – € 12.000

H: H. 23,2 cm

未知

Sturdily potted with a globular body rising from a slightly spreading foot to a tall cylindrical neck with a flared mouth, set with a long, gently curved S-shaped spout and a high loop handle. The body is left deliberately undecorated in plain white, contrasting with the finely painted underglaze cobalt-blue ornament on the neck, foot, spout and handle. The neck is decorated with flowering plants issuing from rockwork beneath a geometric diaper band and a collar of upright leaves, while the foot is encircled by a continuous landscape of birds amongst flowering plants. The slender spout is embellished with stylised floral sprays and is joined to the neck by a moulded strut, its lower terminal modelled as the head of a mythical beast. The lower terminal of the handle is similarly fashioned as the beast’s tail.
The recessed base bears a four-character mark reading Chang ming fu gui (“Long life, riches and honour”).
Made for export to the Persian market, this elegant form closely follows contemporary Safavid metalwork ewers, demonstrating the adaptability of Jingdezhen potters to foreign tastes during the late Ming period. While the distinctive shape derives from Persian prototypes, the painted decoration remains unmistakably Chinese, combining stylised floral motifs, birds and landscape elements with restrained use of underglaze cobalt blue. Such ewers were among the finest porcelains produced for the Islamic world and testify to the flourishing maritime trade between China and Persia during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
此壺胎體厚實，圓腹，下承微撇圈足，上接高直筒頸，口沿外撇。一側置細長而微曲的S形流，另一側設高挑環柄。器腹特意留白不施紋飾，與頸、足、流及柄部的青花裝飾形成鮮明對比。頸部繪洞石花卉，上飾錦地紋及一周仰葉紋；足部通景繪花間禽鳥。細長壺流飾程式化折枝花卉，並以模印橫樑與瓶頸相連，流根塑作瑞獸首；壺柄下端則塑作相應的獸尾。
底部內凹，書「長命富貴」四字款。
此壺專為波斯市場燒造，器形明顯仿自同時期薩法維王朝的金屬執壺，反映了明末景德鎮窯工順應海外市場需求的能力。其造型雖源自波斯器物，紋飾卻仍保留鮮明的中國風格，以克制的青花描繪花卉、禽鳥及山水景物。此類執壺是當時輸往伊斯蘭世界的高級外銷瓷之一，也見證了十六至十七世紀初中國與波斯之間繁盛的海上貿易。
Reference:
For a comparable example in the Topkapi Saray Palace Collection, see J. Ayers, R. Krahl, 'Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul. Yuan and Ming Dynasty Porcelains', vol. II, p. 657, fig. 1020. Another related example is illustrated by John Alexander Pope, 'Chinese Porcelain from the Ardebil Shrine', plate 98.
Provenance:
Vanderven Oriental Art, 's Hertogenbosch.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 3 April 1997, during TEFAF Maastricht, and accompanied by a copy of their invoice and valuation report. (see added scans)
Exhibited:
TEFAF Maastricht, 1997, Vanderven Oriental Art.