436.
A CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL BEAKER
Ming dynasty, 16th-17th century
10,4 x 10,4 cm
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 5238.
Raised on a circular foot, the beaker shaped as an upside-down bell, the exterior enamelled on a turquoise ground with white, yellow, aubergine, red and two tones of green, the body with a lotus flowers scroll bordered on the lower side by a band of lappets, the foot with the wires forming a continuous spiral on a light green ground.
Objects for daily use, such as this beaker, are rather rare in the production of cloisonné enamels respect to pieces with ceremonial function.
This kind of shape, with its narrow foot and the tall flared sides, was in the repertory of the ceramists in Jingdezhen already from the sixteenth century. With few formal variants, it was also among the wares realized in the Dehua kilns, becoming during the Kangxi reign a widespread product also for the export market.
