Page 105 - Christies IMportant Chinese Art Sept 26 2020 NYC

The origin of the design of this ewer, and others
like it, has been the subject of much research. The
form and decoration represent a combination of a
variety of cultural influences from China, Europe,
and the Middle East. The shape is inspired by Near
Eastern brass pitchers, but the decoration may
relate to that found on contemporaneous majolica
wares or in paintings. The design of many of these
ewers also often incorporates elements that are
more commonly found in Chinese material culture,
such as the qilin crouched beneath the fountain,
the flames on the spout and handle, and the lappet
decoration on the foot and mouth.

In addition to being sent to Europe in the seventeenth
century, ewers of this design were also sent to the Near
East by the same time period. 'Magic fountain' ewers
can also be found in the collection of the Topkapi Saray,
Istanbul and in the collection of the Ardebil Shrine,
Tehran, bearing Near Eastern metal mounts which date
to the seventeenth century. An example with metal
mounts are illustrated by Ayers and Krahl in Chinese
Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul, vol.
2, Yuan and Ming Dynasty Porcelains, London, 1986, p.
655, no. 1015, which has a band of waves around the
spreading foot and a san character or trigram. Other
examples with metal mounts are illustrated ibid, nos.
1013, 1014, and 1016, with alternative decoration around
the base and trigrams or hares on the base. See, also,
the metal-mounted ewer in the Musée Guimet, Paris,
illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great
Collections, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, 1981,
vol. 7, fig. 80. Related ewers with slightly different
decoration and alternative four-character auspicious
marks or apocryphal reign marks are illustrated in
Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 3,
fig. 200, from the Museum Pusat, Jakarta, and vol. 4,
col. pl. 61, from the Iran Bastan Museum, Tehran.

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