Page 83 - Bonhams Catalog Cohen and Cohen Jan 24, 2023 New York

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A RARE CHINESE IMARI ‘MONK’S-CAP’ EWER AND COVER copied in porcelain, notably in the reign of the Ming Emperor Yongle
Kangxi period, circa 1710 who restored diplomatic relations with Tibet in 1412, and who was a
The bulbous body and lotus-petal-molded neck and rim painted devout follower of the rather distinctive rituals of Tibetan Buddhism
in underglaze blue, enameled in iron-red and gilt with two panels rather than the conventional Indian Buddhist traditions.
variously depicting scholarly accessories and vessels including a
wrapped qin stringed instrument, a Weiqi games board, a compressed Most Chinese examples of this shape are decorated with Buddhist
globular brush washer, a large vase of peacock feathers and an lotus flowers and (Daoist) precious objects as on this present lot,
archaistic rectangular bronze ding, objects mostly representing although this example also has other objects added as purely
elements of the ‘Four Scholarly Accomplishments’, the tightly- looped decorative features; any association with Tibetan Buddhism has
handle applied with a flowerhead terminal at the lower end. probably long since been lost.
5 1/4in (13cm) high
Notable Ming dynasty prototypes from which this very distinctive
$800 - 1,200 form evolved over three centures include the following examples:
Shoudu bowuguan (Capital Museum), Beijing: a qingbai-glazed
康熙時期 約1710年 稀有中國伊萬里開光帶蓋《僧帽壺》 ewer excavated in 1965 from a Yuan tomb in the Haiding district,
Beijing; British Museum, no. 1952,0512.1: a Yongle period (1403-
Published: 1424) example; Jingdezhen Ceramics Archaeology Institute: several
Cohen & Cohen, The Elephant in the Room, Antwerp, 2019, p. 4, examples excavated by government archaeologists at the spoil heaps
no. 1 of the Imperial kiln sites in Zhushan in 1983, including white-glazed
and copper-red-glazed examples from the Yongle strata, and a blue
出版： and white example from the Xuande period, all exhibited in 2014;
倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《The Elephant in the Room》，安特衛 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (EA1978.2073): an early Qing dynasty
普，2019年，頁4，圖版編號1 revival example glazed copper-red, dated to 1700-1720 but bearing
an apocryphal Xuande mark; Metropolitan Museum, no. 29.100.314:
Although this shape has evolved some distance from the medieval an example decorated in underglaze-copper-red, Qianlong mark and
porcelain form created during the early Ming period around 1415, period (1736-95)
the present lot still shares the unmistakable angular raised rim above
the spout which at some distance imitates a Tibetan monk’s cap. References: Harrison-Hall 2001, no. 3:2; Michael Vickers, Oliver Impey,
The form of these rare ewers is known as sengmaohu, recalling this and James Allan (1986), From Silver to Ceramic: The Potter’s Debt to
resemblance to the profile of monastic textile hats. The shape of these Metalwork in the Graeco-Roman, Oriental and Islamic Worlds (Oxford:
porcelain ewers was originally created in metal, but was subsequently Ashmolean Museum, 1986), pl. 60.

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