Page 127 - Bonhams Chinese Art London May 2013

Coffee and tea drinking became extremely
fashionable across Europe at the end of the
17th century, with a corresponding demand for
Chinese porcelain serving ware. The form of
the present lot is based on that of a Delftware
coffee pot, imitating in turn a metal model.
The straight sides and angles required caused
considerable technical difficulty to the potter,
and the design was soon replaced by a simpler
rounded pot. All known examples of this
distinct group of facetted coffee pots depict
Europa and the bull.

Compare a similar coffee pot and cover from
the Rijksmuseum illustrated by C.A.Jörg,
Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: The Ming and Qing
Dynasties, London, 1997, no. 318, p.275.
Two further examples were sold at Christie’s
Amsterdam, 8 May 2001, lot 331 and Christie’s
New York, 28 January 2013, lot 408.

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