KANGXI 1662 – 1722 London Decorated Blanc de Chine Porcelain
A Kangxi Blanc de Chine Porcelain Ewer from the Dehua Kilns, Fujian Province, Kangxi period 1662-1722. The Decorated London c.1700-1720.
SOLD
- Condition
- A small crack to the lower part of the handle, a small chip to the edge of the cover.
- Size
- Height : 13 cm (5 inches)
- Provenance
- Nicholas Pitcher, 29 New Bond Street, London, 8th June 1994. The Helen Espir Collection of European Decorated Chinese Export Porcelain : "a member of the Oriental Ceramic Society and collector, with her husband. Having made a typical collection of Song and provincial Ming blue and white, they decided to concentrate on what used to be called `clobbered` porcelain. She is the author of the standard work on the subject, European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain,2005, the first to examine the work of European decorators on Chinese porcelain throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, focusing on enamellers in Holland, Germany and England. She has learned Chinese." From Provenance ; Collectors, Dealers & Scholars : Chinese Ceramics in Britain & America (Roy Davids, Dominic Jellinek, Privately Printed, 2011. ISBN 978-0-9570148-0-0).
- Stock number
- 23640
- References
- For a very similar Kangxi ewer and cover with London decoration described as being "painted in Holland" see : Ancient Chinese Trade Ceramics from The British Museum (Regina Krahl and Jessica Harrison-Hall, National Museum of History, Republic of China,1994. ISNB 957-00-3623-0) page 326, plate 147. For a another similar Blanc de Chine ewer and cover decorated in London see : European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain, 1700 -1830 (Helen Espir, Jorge Welsh Books, 2005). Item 7 page 210. For further Blanc de Chine porcelain ewers and covers of this form decorated in London see our `Sold Items` from the collection of Blanc de Chine owned by Mr Alan Green, another from the same collection without a cover 19411. From the collection of Mrs Helen Espir number 22713. Exhibited and Published : An exhibition at the British Museum organised by the Oriental Ceramics Society `East Meets West : Oriental Porcelain Decorated in Europe` in 2000. Published in `Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society` Volume 65. 2000-2001. Item 9, page 111.
Photos
Information
There are quite a few Blanc de Chine ewers and covers of this form and size with London decoration. In fact there are very few without this decoration. Although the designs vary it would indicate they were one group purchased for the express purpose of being decorated. If that is correct it is likely they all ended up in the same decorating studio. This form has generally been referred to as a chocolate pot, however in Helen Espir`s notes the word chocolate pot has been crossed out and oil/vinegar/sauce inserted. I feel this is an unlikely use for the English market, it appears to fit in with tea coffee and hot chocolate wares better than as a vessel for condiments. It was purchased in 1994 so the decoration was attribution to Holland, this has also been crossed out and `England` added.