Page 60 - Christie's London Fine Chinese Ceramics Nov. 2019

A RARE INSCRIBED WHITE ‘MONK’S CAP’ EWER

(inscription)

The ‘monk’s cap’ ewer, or sengmaohu, originated in the Mongol-led Yuan prove his legitimacy, as he had usurped his nephew’s throne. The Fifth
dynasty, as evidenced by the example excavated from a Yuan dynasty Karmapa, known as Halima or Deshin Shekpa (1384-1415), was invited to
relics site in Beijing. See Rong Dawei, Beijing: lishi wenwu chenlie, Beijing, the Yongle court to preside over these ceremonies, once again aligning the
n.d. This example has a pale bluish-white glaze described by some presence of karmapas in the court with ewer production. The Ming shi lu
scholars as danqing (pale bluish-white), and by others as qingbai ware. (The Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty), xiyu section 3, documents
It is slightly smaller in size (19.7 cm.) than the subsequent early Ming the Fifth Karmapa’s importance at court and his presiding over memorial
examples, which, like the present ewer, are typically 21 cm. high. ceremonies at Linggusi. White ‘monk’s cap’ ewers like the present ewer
The exact origins of the shape of the ‘monk’s cap’ ewer remain unknown, may have been made to give to the Karmapa as gifts after the completion
but the shape likely derives from the hat of the karmapas, leaders of the of ritual ceremonies (Li Xianyi, ed., Jingdezhen Zhushan chutu: Yongle
Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, who performed sacred rituals and Xuande guanyao ciqi zhanlan, Hong Kong, 1989, 62).
served as spiritual advisors to the emperor. Before the start of the Yuan While many of the Yongle tianbai ‘monk’s cap’ ewers are plainly decorated,
dynasty, Khublai Khan, a then governor of the Mongol territory, summoned several notable tianbai examples are decorated in anhua with Tibetan
Karma Pakshi (b. 1204), the Second Karmapa, to his court. Karma Pakshi inscriptions, like the present ewer. One very similar example is in The
wore a black hat called a gomsha that resembled the top portion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1991.253.36, which bears
‘monk’s cap ewer.’ The Karmapa remained in court during the Yuan the same inscription as the present ewer. This canonical Tibetan Buddhist
dynasty, and his presence aligns with the creation of the frst ‘monk’s cap’ inscription appears on Tibetan Buddhist prayer fags. Interestingly, the
ewer during this time. The points on the hat, and thus of the ewer, likely letters on the inscription are fairly uniform in height, suggesting that the
represent the Buddhas of the Five Directions. The fve points are also text was drawn by someone unfamiliar with Tibetan script, typical for
found on initiation crowns used in Vajrayana Buddhist rituals. The hat was an imperial piece made in Jingdezhen at this time. This same Tibetan
frst worn by the First Karmapa a century earlier during the performance inscription also appears on a Xuande period blue and white stem bowl
of important rituals, and functioned as a symbol of the karmapa’s power. in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. For an example of a white tianbai
Moreover, the karmapas were thought to be bodhisattvas in their own ‘monk’s cap’ ewer with anhua decoration that still bears its original cover,
right, who manifested as Guanyin when wearing the famed hat. see Chen and Wang, Xueyu cangzheng: Xizang wenwu jinghua, Shanghai,
Because of the long history of ceramics being fashioned after metalwork 2001, p. 177, no. 88.
prototypes in Buddhist material culture, scholars have held the ‘Monk’s cap’ ewer production continued into the Xuande period (1426-
presumption that ‘monk’s cap’ ewers were based on an earlier Tibetan 1435) in new colors, motifs, and decoration. One of the most notable
metalwork prototype. However, there are no extant metalwork examples innovations of the ‘monk’s cap’ ewer in the Xuande period is the blue and
known predating the Yuan dynasty ewers and all known examples have white ewer. One notable example is decorated similarly to the present
been dated to the eighteenth century or later. A nineteenth-century ewer with a Tibetan inscription around the body but in blue and white,
Tibetan copper and tin example dating to the 19th century, which has an excavated in 1983 from the Ming imperial kiln site in Zhushan and is
additional handle to one side (as opposed to the one handle on the ceramic illustrated in Zhang Bai (ed.), Zhongguochutu ciqi quanji—14—Jianxi,
‘monk’s cap’ ewer), is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Beijing, 2008, p. 170. The other type of blue and white ewer is decorated
accession number IM.7-1915. This metalwork example is 38.8 cm. high, with a Tibetan inscription around the body, but with a dragon on the neck,
signifcantly larger than the extant ceramic examples. replacing the design of Buddhist emblems found on the other ewers with
It remains possible that the ‘monk’s cap’ ewer was an innovation Tibetan inscriptions.
of the Yuan court and derives directly from Buddhist costume, and Like in the Yongle period, Xuande examples were also made in
that the metalwork examples are based on the ceramic ewers. This monochrome glazes of red and blue, but experimental glazes were also
is substantiated by evidence in the Yuan Shi (Oficial History of the found in excavations from Zhushan. Two unusual examples of celadon
Yuan Dynasty), juan (section) 88, that documents that hat and ceramic ‘monk’s cap’ ewers were excavated, and are illustrated in Liang Sui (ed.),
production were supervised by a single bureau—The Bureau for Imperial Jingdezhen chutu Yuan Ming gongyao ciqi, Beijing, 1999, no. 248, and
Manufactures. The Yuan Shi states that this bureau supervised both the Jingdezhen chutu: Ming Xuande Guanyao ciqi, Taiwan, 1998, p. 124, no.
Fuliang Porcelain Bureau (the bureau that oversaw porcelain production F30. Though misfred and thus likely discarded, they show the range
in the Yuan dynasty) and the production of hats made of horsehair, coir of innovation in ceramic production of the period. The other, perhaps
(coarse fber) and rattan. most notable example, are six fragments of a spotted copper, iron and
The frst ‘monk’s cap’ ewers of the Ming dynasty were made during the cobalt ‘monk’s cap’ ewer, also excavated from Zhushan and published
Yongle period (1403-1425), when the present ewer was made. In this in Jingdezhen chutu: Ming Xuande guanyao ciqi, Taiwan, 1998, 124, no.
period, ‘monk’s cap’ ewers were made in monochrome glazes of copper- F32, where the author notes that this is the only time this technique of
red and underglaze-blue, but tianbai, or ‘sweet white’, were the most combining dots and splashes of iron, copper and cobalt has been seen. No
popular. Over ffty-fve examples of Yongle ‘monk’s cap’ ewers have been complete example of a spotted ‘monk’s cap’ ewer has been found.
excavated from Jingdezhen, and the majority were tianbai. Notably, 98% of After the Xuande period, production of the ‘monk’s cap’ ewer came to
excavated shards from the Yongle period were also tianbai, illustrating the a halt for over two-hundred years, only to reappear in the Qing dynasty,
popularity of white ceramics at this time. when they were revered by emperors for their unusual shape and superb
Scholars speculate that the Yongle emperor commissioned many rituals quality.
using white vessels in ceremonies memorializing his parents in order to

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