194.
A ‘FAMILLE VERTE’ ‘LUDUAN’ EWER
Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, early 18th century
22 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891).
inv. n. 3783.
The animal here depicted is a luduan, a mythological creature which was believed to have the ability to discern the truth from the falsehood. Often confused with the qilin, the luduan has a single horn, a more massive body and claws instead of hooves.
The zoomorphic shape of this ewer is directly inspired by older bronze incense burner prototypes with movable heads dating from the Ming dynasty (see for example the piece illustrated in H. Moss – G. Tsang, Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, Hong Kong 1986, p. 241, pl. 232), usually displayed at the side of the throne in the most important rooms of the imperial palaces (Classics of the Forbidden City. Imperial Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasty, Pechino 2007, nn. 359, 361-362). Luduan shaped ceramic incense burners with a céladon glaze were realized in the Longquan kilns in the sixteenth century (Chinese Cealdons and Other Related Wares in Southeast Asia, Singapore 1979, pl. 230), later in Dehua (J. Ayers, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, 2 voll. London 2016, I, p. 157, nn. 306-307) and from 1600 circa in Jingdezhen too (see the example in the Porzellansammlung in Dresden, inv. PO 3767), inspiring the production of objects with the same shape but different use, such as this ewer.
A very similar pair of wine ewers is illustrated in Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst, Berlin 1929, pl. 906; see also the nearly identical piece in Polesden Lacey, Surrey (inv. n. NT 1245676).
