A pomegranate-shaped blanc de chine teapot with cover, Qing dynasty, Kangxi (1662-1722).
For condition report contact specialist
The body of this pomegranate-shaped teapot has been moulded in two parts and then combined. The handle and lid have been modelled as both a branch and leaf – beginning at the handle, continuing onto the body and then connecting at the lid. The foot is in the shape of a six-pointed star. Height 12 cm.
Luting line, small chips to cover.
Provenance
The Avalon Collection.
This collection, which in the main focuses on the Interregnum and Kangxi periods has been both carefully and sensitively formed over the last twenty-five years. The collector, a member of the English Oriental Ceramic Society, has assembled the collection with an eye for provenance whilst purchasing from old European collections, well-established antique dealers and at auction.
Academically, the pieces have been well researched both in terms of their symbolism and narrative themes. In many instances the imagery on the pieces has been referenced to episodes in the romantic and historic novels of Chinese mythology, which were used extensively in the decoration of seventeenth century Chinese porcelain.
Purchased Guest & Gray, London, June 2006.
Literature
Identical examples are illustrated in both “ Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics from the Peabody Essex Museum” by William R. Sargent, Page 206, Item 98 and “Blanc de Chine: The Great Porcelain of Dehua”, by Robert H. Blumenfield, Page 51, Plate B, where it is described as being melon shaped.
More information
These pomegranate-shaped teapots were produced in Dehua for domestic and export use during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries – indeed Augustus the Strong was reputed to have owned several. In Europe, where such items were scarce and costly, replacements were difficult to obtain. As a result some teapot lids would be securely attached with link chains or solid mounts.
The form was copied in soft paste porcelain in France at Saint Cloud and Bottger made a similar form in hard-paste porcelain at Meissen around 1710-12.