KANGXI 1662 – 1722 Chinese Export Porcelain
A Pair of Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Triple Gourd Vases c.1690-1710. Decorated in Strong Bright Cobalt Blue in the Archaic Style with Geometric Designs that Incorporate Taotie Masks.
SOLD
- Condition
- In very good condition, one footrim with a very shallow (c.1 mm) chip c.5 x 2 mm.
- Size
- Height : 24.3 cm (9 1/2 inches) and 23.2 cm (9 inches)
- Provenance
- N/A
- Stock number
- 23541
Photos
Information
As can be seen from the photographs and the measurements below these vases are of slightly different size but they are a pair.
Taotie Maskes :
`Taotie` masks appear in early Chinese art and like some many Chinese emblems and designs were reused and reinterpreted. They are often rather comical in the ferociousness, they have large bulging eyes and large fangs that stick out. They can often be seen on bronzes where a loop is suspended from their mouths. Among other places they crop up on Kraak porcelain bowls. Rinaldi in Kraak Porcelain, A Moment in the History of Trade (Maura Rinaldi, Bamboo Publishing,1989) points out that these are ..."most unlike the traditional Chinese monster mask. Indeed it has a definite resemblance to a gala, the mythological Indian glutton who was punished by having to eat his own body until only the mouth and upper part of the head and two tiny hands remained".