Covers

A striking pair of covered jars, decorated all over in underglaze blue with overglaze red enamels and gilding. The rich decoration around the body of these jars is of rockeries with a pheasant perched on flowering peony bushes and exotic birds in flight. The neck has a border of scrolling flowers and the lid a decoration matching the main body, with a lotus bud finial. The foot-rim is edged with a double blue line and the bases are unglazed. Such large covered jars are often referred to as chimney pots, as they were placed in empty fireplaces during the summer.

This type of lavish porcelain decoration, referred to as Chinese Imari, has the distinctive colour scheme of blue, iron-red and gold, inspired by Japanese Imari porcelain. After the fall of the Ming dynasty - in the latter half of the 17th century - there was a downturn of porcelain production in China. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) looked for a substitute source for these lucrative trade goods. They turned to Japan as an alternative, where porcelain including the distinctive red painted aka-e wares, were exported from the port of Imari. These wares become very popular in Europe, where they were appreciated for their bright colouring. After the Chinese porcelain trade resumed, they copied this popular new red colourway, evolving into a distinct style in itself.

An similar pair can be found in the Dresden porcelain collection (PO 5429 & 5430). The Topkapi collection, Istanbul also has several comparable jars (TKS 15/4109-10 & TKD15/4064). The East Asian Museum, Stockholm has two similar pairs but with fo dog finials (CXV-1731-AB & 1732AB) and a ginger jar with the same décor (BS-0482). The Royal Collection Trust (UK), has a smaller jar with similar decoration (RCIN3339a.b). The RA Collection has a similarly decorated jar, in just underglaze blue enamels.

China, Kangxi period (1662-1722), circa 1720

H: 38 cm

PROVENANCE

Private Collection, France

LITERATURE

Berlin 1929, no.1012

Cohen & Motley 2008, p.58 no.1.6

Gorer & Blacker 1911, pl.74

Kopplin 2004, p.61-69 (fig.3)

London 2016, no.39

Schreuder 2017

Syndram 2005, p.88 & 89

Syndram 2006, p.132 & 133

Ulrichs 2005, p.26

A very rare enamel on biscuit porcelain standing figure, the arms, legs and upper body decorated in aubergine-brown enamels with black details. He wears a contrasting threetiered skirt, decorated in bright famille verte enamels with a strong blue enamel and edged in red and gold bands. He stands barefoot and bare-chested, with his left hand on his hip and the right holding a yellow cornucopia. The laughing face has an open mouth and eyes, black eyebrows and a gold star on his forehead. The earlobes are pierced, for the addition of bejeweled earrings. He dons a thin gold hairband, holding back black enameled hair in swirls – similar to that seen on Chinese Buddhist figures. He wears beaded bracelets, bangles around the ankles and a gold collar around the neck. The gold orde-sash across the body, has a central beribboned insignia.

This figure, undoubtably made as a special private order, is likely to have been based on illustrations. It is recorded that dark skinned Africans were in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), but by the Kangxi period they are rarely mentioned. A direct inspiration source for this figure has yet been found, but we do know that European prints and drawings were often used as design inspiration by the Chinese potters. Perhaps even a mixture of images were used, including those of American Indians wearing feather skirts – like those representing the American continent on early maps. The attributes he carries such as the cornucopia and the sash, are of course distinctly European.

Dark skinned figures were regularly portrayed in the decorative arts in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Some of the finest examples, made around the same time as the present figure, are in the collection of the Green Vaults in Dresden. Figures created by Balthasar Permoser and the goldsmith Melchior Dinglinger, also wear feathery skirts, illustrations of which were perhaps a source for this figures’ curious attire.

One comparable figure, previously in the S.E. Kennedy Collection, is now in the Lady Lever Collection, Liverpool (acc.no.LL6131). The National Maritime Museum (Het Scheepvaart Museum), Amsterdam also has a similar figure in their collection (object no. 2018.0652). The Residenzmuseum, Munich, has two similar figures mounted as a clock and dated c.1730.

China, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

H: circa 15 cm

PROVENANCE

Private Collections, France & Argentina

LITERATURE

Ayers 2004, p.110 pl.116 & 117

Beurdeley & Raindre 1987, p.84 pl.122

Boulay 1984, p.232 fig.8

Desroches 1976, p.37

Pinto de Matos 2011, p.340

Sargent 1991, p.40 pl.9

Scagliola 2012, p.248 no.256

Welch 2008, p.54