Page 451 - Bonhams Chinese Art London May 2013

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A bronze monk’s-cap ewer
Song/Yuan Dynasty
The rounded body cast with a narrow plaited band around the
shoulder and another narrow beaded band at the bottom of the flar-
ing neck supporting a broad rim leading to a spout at one end and a
foliate panel set with green enamel and flanked by two plain panels
above the curled handle unfurling at the top and bottom.
30cm (11¾in) high
£6,000 - 8,000
HK$71,000 - 94,000 CNY56,000 - 75,000

宋/元 青铜僧帽壺

Monk’s-cap ewers owe their origin to relations between Tibet, Mongo-
lia and China during the Song period. It is believed that the earliest
ewers in this distinctive shape were made of bronze or wood, and
porcelain examples are found in Yuan and early Ming contexts. The
strange form of the ewer, and in particular the upper part, derives
from the shape of meditation caps worn by certain Tibetan Buddhist
lamas. Changing political relationships between Yuan-period China
and Tibet gave Tibetan Buddhist leaders a much greater sway in
Beijing than had been the case during the latter years of the Southern
Song Dynasty, based in Hangzhou.

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Fine Chinese Art | 447