Page 26 - Chiense works of art sothebys march 14 2017 nyc

A MAGNIFICENT AND
RARE BLUE AND WHITE
CYLINDRICAL ‘DRAGON’
TEA CADDY AND COVER
YONGZHENG MARK AND
PERIOD
The simplicity of this form, the sides of which drop down from
high shoulders, is a Yongzheng innovation and embodies
the elegant style of the period. Finding inspiration from
Ming ceramics and combining this with the developments
in porcelain production and his aesthetic preferences led
to high quality wares that were both innovative and classic.
Furthermore, these vessels portray the drinking and eating
habits of their time: in this case the storage and consumption
of tea.
During the Ming dynasty, a revolution in the history of tea
in China occurred when the Hongwu Emperor abolished the
tribute of Qian-an caked tea from Fujian province in 1391. He
prohibited the production of caked tea and changed from the
use of powered tea to tea leaves. As a result, new tea utensils
for steeping tea, such as teapots and tea caddies, replaced
the traditional grinder, sieve, bamboo brush and ladles. Many
of the Ming tea traditions were continued in the Qing dynasty
and while the actual utensils did not change much, a greater
assortment of shapes and designs evolved with the ourishing
porcelain production of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong
reigns.
A closely related jar and cover, in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
is illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan cang. Qingdai yuyao ciqi
[Qing porcelains from the imperial kilns preserved in the Palace
Museum], vol. 1, pt. II, Beijing, 2005, pl. 39 ( g. 1). Compare
a slightly taller jar and cover of this form, but decorated with
Ming-style fruiting branches, in the National Palace Museum,
Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition Empty Vessels,
Replenished Minds: The Culture, Practice and Art of Tea,
National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2002, cat. no. 121, where it is
catalogued as a tea caddy; and another in the Palace Museum,
Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of
the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed
Red (III), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 104. Celadon-glazed examples,
but with domed covers and slightly taller necks, include one
in the National Palace exhibition, op. cit., cat. no. 122; another the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, illustrated in Lu Minghua,
from the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, published in The O cial
Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003,
p. 192; and a third, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 10th April
2006, lot 1618, and o ered in this sale, lot 518. Celadon
versions with short necks and no covers include one, in the
24 SOTHEBY’S
Palace Museum, Beijing, in Gugong Bowuguan cang gu taoci
ciliao xuanci [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the
Palace Museum], vol. 2, Beijing, 2005, pl. 166; and another,
from the estate of Angela Ciccio Schirone, sold in these rooms,
18th/19th March 2014, lot 451.
Compare a Yongzheng mark and period tea caddy with a cover
of related form, but much shorter in height, and decorated with
an archaistic dragon in cobalt, in the National Palace Museum,
Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition The Far Reaching
Fragrance of Tea. The Art and Culture of Tea in Asia, Taipei,
2015, cat. no. I-56, illustrated together with another jar painted
with oral branches and two Yixing versions, gs. 1 and 2.
A Xuande mark and period tea caddy, of globular form on a
stepped foot and surmounted by a domed cover with bud-
shaped knop, from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was
included in ibid., cat. no. I-40, where it is noted that although
tea caddies of this type are not described in contemporary
Ming documents, ‘during the Qing dynasty they were often set
with other tea service items’ (p. 111). The exhibition catalogue
illustrates the painting Qianlong Enjoying Himself in a Snowy
Day, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, where a tea caddy similar
to the Xuande vessel can be seen being used by servants with
other tea equipment to make ‘three purity’ tea.
The dragon on the present piece has been rendered in a
Ming style, and its placement against a plain white ground,
sometimes interspersed with clouds or scrolls, appears to have
been a motif that gained popularity from its inception in the
Xuande period (1426-35); for example see a meiping, with a
Xuande reign mark and of the period, included in the exhibition
Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated
from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen,
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1989, cat. no. 88.
Later designs that were probably inspired by the Xuande
original include two related Wanli mark and period meiping, in
Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai,
2007, pls 3-97 and 3-98; another was sold in our London
rooms, 13th May 2015, lot 118; and an ovoid jar with cover,
with a Kangxi mark and of the period, in the Palace Museum,
Beijing, published in Gugong bowuyuan qingdai yuyao ciqi,
vol. 1, pt. I, Beijing, 2005, pl. 45.