KANGXI 1662 – 1722 Chinese Export Porcelain

An Early Chinese Export Porcelain Blue and White Tea Canister and Cover, Kangxi c.1690-1710. Both Sides Finely Painted in Rich Cobalt Blue with Two Mountainous Landscapes with Lone Boatman on the Water. The Sides with Flowers Among Jagged Rocks, with Further Flowers on the Top and Cover.

SOLD

Condition
In very good condition. The tea canister with unusually few minute frits to the edges. The cover with a crack to the rim c.17 mm.
Size
Height : 12.5 cm (5 inches)
Provenance
N/A
Stock number
23927
References
For a very similar Kangxi blue and white tea canister and cover see : Chinese and Japanese Ceramics and Works of Art Christie`s Amsterdam 4th of November 2003, lot 73. For a related silver tea canister and cover by Lewis Mettayer dated 1697 now in the Royal Ontario see : Museum Tea Trade & Tea Canister (Antonia Agnew, David Doxey & Felicity Marno, A Loan Exhibition in March 2002) page 14 Figure 7.

Information

This form of tea canister closely follows European silver of the late 17th and very early 18th century. This simple rectangular form was the first Chinese export porcelain vessel that was specifically made to store tea. Other Chinese jars and covers might have held tea but this shape was made as a tea canister. In the 1693 inventory of ceramics belonging to Queen Mary II there is a reference to "very fine flatt bottles with cover for tea...".