A pair of blue and white vases, Qing dynasty, Kangxi (1662-1722).
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On a splayed foot with the pear shaped body rising to a high and narrow neck. The body is decorated with two creatures above forming waves and flower sprays, whilst the neck has ribbons and pointed plantain leaves. The base of each is decorated with a spray of flowers. Height 24 cm.
Restored chips/fritts. Minor chip to rim.
Provenance
Purchased from Martel Maides Auctions, Guernsey, September 2006, Lot 31.
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.
Literature
For an identical vase see the Victoria and Albert Museum Collections, C.610 – 1910 and “Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: The Ming and Qing Dynasties” by Christiaan J A Jorg, Item No 319.
More information
Chinese iconography has many representations of creatures composed of various parts. However the forked tail, the positioning of the feet and head along with the tufts on the legs and head suggest that this may not be a Chinese monster but a copy of a European heraldic lion. If this is the case then this is an early and rare example of a Chine de Commande decorated on Kangxi porcelain.
See a similar pair sold from the Leiber collection at Sothebys New York 2018, lot 424.