105.
A ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ HANDLED VASE AND COVER
Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, early 18th century
28,4 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 4044.
Standing on a splayed circular foot, the globular body surmounted by a large cylindrical neck, the two loop handles moulded as a dragon head, the domed cover with a ‘double gourd’-shaped finial, the decoration painted in different shades of blue and consisting of a series of cartouches with ruyi heads profiles containing stylized floral compositions.
The shape of the this vase – explicitly though for the Dutch market – was inspired by European metal model.
A vase with the same shape of European origins and size and a similar style of decoration is in the British Museum (inv. n. Franks.440.); the pair in the Metropolitan Museum in New York has the same shape but a different decoration (inv. n. 29.149.21a, b); also the piece in the Rijksmuseum has the same shape but a decoration with fan-shaped reserves with figures (C.J.A. Jörg, in collaboration with J. Van Campen, Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The Ming and Qing Dynasties, London 1997, p. 262, n. 302).
