Lot 13 An extremely rare Chinese blue and white ko-sometsuke 'Cat' incense burner

An extremely rare Chinese blue and white ko-sometsuke 'Cat' incense burner

Wanli/Tianqi, ca. 1620

未知

€ 25.000 – € 50.000

WDH: H. 21 cm, W. 12 cm, D. 9,7 cm (incl. base)

未知

Naturalistically modelled after a seated cat with alert upright ears, bulging eyes and an open mouth, the head pierced at the crown with a circular aperture to receive incense. The animal wears a collar secured with three bosses suspending long tasseled pendants falling over the chest. Its coat is freely painted in underglaze cobalt blue with irregular patches, while stylised flame motifs decorate the breast. Beneath its raised left forepaw, the cat restrains a mouse, an auspicious emblem of vigilance and domestic prosperity. The long tail curls around the right side of the body.
The figure is integrally moulded on a rectangular plinth, each side decorated with moulded ruyi-head cartouches reserved against a diaper ground, the front further embellished with flowing ribbons. The hollow interior is glazed and fitted with an integral cylindrical socket to receive a joss stick, while the separate stand originally served to support a taper or incense stick.
The present cat belongs to an exceptionally rare group. Writing in 'One Hundred Years', Stuart Marchant noted that the present example had been acquired in Japan in November 2008 and described it as a possibly unique survival, observing that no other example then appeared to have been recorded. Subsequent research has confirmed the extreme rarity of the model, although several closely related incense burners in the form of Buddhist lions are known.
此器依照蹲坐的貓塑造，雙耳豎立，雙目圓凸，張口作警覺狀，頭頂開一圓孔，可插置燃香。貓頸繫項圈，以三枚乳釘固定，下垂長穗於胸前。皮毛以釉下青花率意點染，形成不規則斑紋，胸部飾火焰紋。左前足微抬，足下按伏一鼠，寓意警醒守護、家宅富足。長尾沿身體右側盤曲而上。
貓與長方形台座一體模塑而成，台座四面於錦地上飾如意雲頭形開光，正面另飾飄帶。器身中空，內壁施釉，內設筒形插座，可供插置線香；另配底座原可用以承托錐形香或線香。
此件貓形香爐屬極為罕見的孤例。Stuart Marchant 在《One Hundred Years》一書中記載，此器於2008年11月購自日本，並認為其可能是傳世僅見的一例，當時尚未發現其他同類作品。其後研究亦證實此造型極為稀少，雖有數件風格相近的佛獅形香爐傳世，但貓形例器至今仍極為難得。
Comparable lion-form incense burners with virtually identical rectangular plinths and associated incense-holder stands are illustrated by Sir Michael Butler, 'Chinese Porcelain: The Transitional Period, 1620–1683', 1986, no. 4, and again in 'Seventeenth Century Chinese Porcelain from the Butler Family Collection', 1990, no. 7. Another related lion is preserved in the Tokyo National Museum and illustrated by Masahiko Kawahara, 'Ko-sometsuke', Monochrome Section, no. 121, while a further example from the Roy C. Leventritt Collection is now in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco.
Incense-holder stands in the form of cats are also represented among the cargo recovered from the Hatcher Junk, which sank in the South China Sea circa 1643, demonstrating that these unusual sculptural wares formed part of the export trade to Japan and Southeast Asia during the early seventeenth century. An example is illustrated by Colin Sheaf and Richard Kilburn, 'The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes: The Complete Record', 1988, pl. 111, p. 71, and by Jessica Harrison-Hall, 'Ming Ceramics in the British Museum', no. 12:19.
Provenance:
A Japanese private collection.
S. Marchant & Son, London, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 2 December 2008 and accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scan)
Exhibited & Published:
S. Marchant & Son, London, included in their 2008 exhibition of 'Ming Porcelain for the Japanese Market, ko-sometsuke & ko-akai'', and published in the accompanying catalogue, p. 46, no. 21 and cover (see added scan). Also published and discussed in their 2025 publication, 'One Hundred Years', vol II, p. 143, no. 1248.