123.
A ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ CACHEPOT
Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, early 18th century
18,9 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 3595.
The exterior of the rounded walls with two large ogivated cartouches each showing a landscape with figures, both reserved on crackled-ice ground with scattered plum blossoms, toward the rim a geometric frieze with four round medallions each with a good omen object.
The motif of plum flowers scattered on a ground of crackled ice was very popular during the Kangxi reign, favoured especially during the celebrations for the New Year. The plum is in fact the first fruit tree to bloom, already in the late winter, when the ice begins to melt with the increase of the temperatures. The theme is therefore a reference to the arrival of spring, with its philosophical consequences of rebirth, endurance and hope, constantly sung by poets and depicted by painters from the Song dynasty.
