KANGXI 1662 – 1722 Blanc de Chine Porcelain
A Miniature Kangxi Blanc de Chine Porcelain Elephant Topped Seal c.1680-1710. The Elephant is Shown Seated and is Crisply Moulded.
SOLD
- Condition
- In perfect condition.
- Size
- Height : 2.6 cm (1 inch) The Dice is 1 cm.
- Provenance
- N/A
- Stock number
- 24314
- References
- See : Oriental Export Market Porcelain and its Influence on European Wares (Geoffrey A. Godden, Granada, 1979.ISBN 0246110570) page 272, plate 200. Information from Godden`s book ; The records of the Dashwood sale in September 1703, an English Supra-cargo, include 10,800 `square toys` (seals), the other 5,400 `toys` were models of animals, `men on beasts` and the 490 `small white dogs` were priced at 1d each. For similar seal from Hinkley in the Collection See : Blanc de Chine Porcelain from Dehua (Rose Kerr and John Ayers, Art Media Resources Ltd, 2000. Item 63). For another similar blanc de chine example see : Blanc de Chine (P.J. Donnelly, Faber and Faber, 1969) Illustration 67. For a further blanc de chine seal with a monkey on top see our `Sold Items` number 17292 and 23416.
Photos
Information
Blanc de Chine seals can be found left as blanks, moulded or engraved.
Elephants / Xiang : Although symbolically important the elephant is not commonly depicted on Chinese ceramics. When it is the depiction, unlike so many animals, it can look unreal and rather odd. Presumably this is because the ceramic artist would have been unfamiliar with an animal, their numbers became diminished and were limited to certain areas of the country. It is thought that China`s elephant population is only in the region of 300 today. The Asian Elephant (Elephas Maximus) is sometimes depicted on Chinese ceramics as an animal with a rounded back and with lose fitting skin, but it can be shown as a powerful animal decked in rich cloth and carrying a vase on it`s back. Like so many other Chinese symbols the meaning it conveys is connected with the pronunciation of the word. Xiang (elephant) is a homonym for the word happiness. A rebus is formed when an elephant is depicted with a rider, usually a child, this conveys a `wish for happiness`. An elephant with a vase forms a rebus meaning `perfect peace in the universe`, this is expanded if there is a saddle cloth to mean `perfect peace and harmony in the universe`. The elephant is also closely connected with the Buddhist religion. An uncommon but interesting image of an elephant can be found on a few pieces of blue and white porcelain from the Transitional period. These scenes depict the Buddhist ritual of washing an elephant. For a Transitional blue and white brushpot dating to c.1640 with a version of this scene see : Late Ming, Chinese Porcelain from the Butler Family Collections (Exhibition catalogue, Sir Michael Butler, Musee National d`Histoire et d`Art Luxembourg 2008. ISBN 978-2-87985-029-0) page 125, plate 86. Another blue and white porcelain Transitional brushpot shows a boy with a brush cleaning the elephants back, see : Seventeenth-Century Blue and White Porcelain and Copper-Red and Their Predecessors (Exhibition Catalogue, S Marchant & Son, London, June 1997) page 53, plate 30.