Page 39 - Mounted Oriental Porcelain Getty Museum

2. EWER

THE PORCELAIN: Chinese (Kangxi), 1662-1722
THE GILT-BRONZE MOUNTS: French (Paris), circa 1700-10
HEIGHT: i ft., 6Vs in. (46.1 cm); WIDTH: i ft., i% in. (35.2 cm); DEPTH: 53/s in. (13.8 cm)

82.DI.3

DESCRIPTION FIG. 2A
The cylindrical body of the ewer is modeled with a
shaped wall lip above a tall slender spout. The flat lid The large gilt-bronze handle, of rectangular cross
bears a porcelain knop at its center. Two pierced Bud- section, is interrupted along its length by two clasps,
dhist lion masks form the places of attachment for the decorated on their outer edges with rosettes. Above the
original pouring handle, which may have been of wire bifurcate and scrolled upper end, the handle is held in a
bound with cane. This has been replaced by one of gilt large acanthus leaf. It rests on the top of the small ce-
bronze that entirely covers the lower lion mask. ramic lion's mask; a drape is knotted to the scroll, its ends
The body of the ewer is divided into three stages by depending on either side of the mask. The scrolled base
four horizontally ridged triple bands that encircle it. It is of the handle, clasped by an acanthus leaf along its outer
enameled on the biscuit with pale aubergine, green, edge, rests on a large gilt-bronze lion's mask (fig. ZB).
white, and yellow on a deep mottled-green ground pen-
ciled with black whirlpools and outcrops of white rock-
work. The motifs include mythical carp dragons (mo
zhe)y horned chimerae and the eight horses of Mu Wang
(the legendary queen mother of the West) flying over the
ocean; loose prunus blossoms; and the eight Buddhist
"precious things" (pa pao: the jewel, the cash, the open
and solid lozenges with ribbons, the musical stone, the
two books, the paired horns, and the artemesia leaf). The
lip is enameled with a horned Chilong dragon with yel-
low and aubergine on a green ground scattered with au-
bergine clouds below a relief molded hatched border. The
flat lid is decorated with the flying horse motif (fig. 2,A).
The porcelain knop is partially encased in a cup of
gilt-bronze acanthus leaves. The edge of the lid is encir-
cled by a pierced flat gilt-bronze band that is hinged to
the upper end of the handle. A band of the same design,
below a gadrooned molding, is attached to the rim of the
body of the ewer and to the edge of the wall lip.A simi-
larly pierced band with gadrooning, of smaller scale,
encircles the mouth of the spout, which is closed by a
gilt-bronze bud-shaped stopper. The engraved stopper is
attached to the mount of the wall lip by a six-link chain.

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