Page 39 - Mounted Oriental Porcelain, The Getty Museum

2. EWER

THE PORCELAIN: Chinese (Kangxi), 1662-1722
THE GILT-BRONZE MOUNTS: French (Paris), circa 1700-10
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HEIGHT: i ft., 6Vs in. (46.1 cm); WIDTH: i ft., i% in. (35.2 cm); DEPTH: 5 /s in. (13.8 cm)
82.DI.3

DESCRIPTION
The cylindrical body of the ewer is modeled with a
shaped wall lip above a tall slender spout. The flat lid
bears a porcelain knop at its center. Two pierced Bud-
dhist lion masks form the places of attachment for the
original pouring handle, which may have been of wire
bound with cane. This has been replaced by one of gilt
bronze that entirely covers the lower lion mask.
The body of the ewer is divided into three stages by
four horizontally ridged triple bands that encircle it. It is
enameled on the biscuit with pale aubergine, green,
white, and yellow on a deep mottled-green ground pen-
ciled with black whirlpools and outcrops of white rock-
work. The motifs include mythical carp dragons (mo
zhe)y horned chimerae and the eight horses of Mu Wang
(the legendary queen mother of the West) flying over the
ocean; loose prunus blossoms; and the eight Buddhist
"precious things" (pa pao: the jewel, the cash, the open FIG. 2A
and solid lozenges with ribbons, the musical stone, the
two books, the paired horns, and the artemesia leaf). The
lip is enameled with a horned Chilong dragon with yel- The large gilt-bronze handle, of rectangular cross
low and aubergine on a green ground scattered with au- section, is interrupted along its length by two clasps,
bergine clouds below a relief molded hatched border. The decorated on their outer edges with rosettes. Above the
flat lid is decorated with the flying horse motif (fig. 2,A). bifurcate and scrolled upper end, the handle is held in a
The porcelain knop is partially encased in a cup of large acanthus leaf. It rests on the top of the small ce-
gilt-bronze acanthus leaves. The edge of the lid is encir- ramic lion's mask; a drape is knotted to the scroll, its ends
cled by a pierced flat gilt-bronze band that is hinged to depending on either side of the mask. The scrolled base
the upper end of the handle. A band of the same design, of the handle, clasped by an acanthus leaf along its outer
below a gadrooned molding, is attached to the rim of the edge, rests on a large gilt-bronze lion's mask (fig. ZB).
body of the ewer and to the edge of the wall lip. A simi-
larly pierced band with gadrooning, of smaller scale,
encircles the mouth of the spout, which is closed by a
gilt-bronze bud-shaped stopper. The engraved stopper is
attached to the mount of the wall lip by a six-link chain.

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