428.
A LARGE CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL BASIN
Ming dynasty, Wanli period
12,3 x 51,3 cm
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 5320.
The shape of this basin – used to hold wash water, usually arranged on a wood or metal support (see H. Brinker – A. Lutz, Chinesisches Cloisonné. Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Zürich 1985, p. 123, fig. 63) – originated in the Near East, where similar metal and glass containers for water date from the fourteenth century. The damascening brass example in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples – made in Egypt or Syria in the third quarter of the fourteenth century – is furthermore interesting because of the presence in the decoration of motifs such as ducks and peonies of clear Chinese inspiration, demonstrating the mutual influences between the two far cultural poles of the Asian continent (S. Carboni, in G. Curatola (edited by), Eredità dell’Islam. Arte islamica in Italia, exhibition catalogue (Venice), Cinisello Balsamo 1993, pp. 316-317, n. 182).
The Islamic prototypes were copied already during the Yongle period in the Jingdezhen porcelain manufactures, becoming a very appreciated exotic good at the imperial court (see for example the piece in the National Palace Museum in Taipei: Shi yu xin: Mingdai Yongle huangdi de ciqi/ Pleasingly Pure and Lustrous: Porcelains from the Yongle Reign (1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty, exhibition catalogue, Taipei 2017, pp. 131-133). However, these porcelain basins show some differences respect to the cloisonné enamelled items from the sixteenth century, such as more rounded walls and a greater overall highness. Large basins were also in the repertory of Jingdezhen ceramists during the late Ming dynasty: the most common type dating back to the Wanli period usually presents a lobed shape, such as the example formerly in the Meiyintang collection (R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Meiyintang Collection. Vol. 4, London 2010, n. 1698).
The subject of fishes (yu) swimming amidst aquatic plants and crustaceans is very popular in Chinese culture, symbolizing a wish for health because of the homophony of the term yu which means abundance. It was also frequently used as the main theme by painters active during the Song dynasty, such as Liu Cai, who was patronized by the Huizong emperor (reign 1101-1125), a fervent Daoist. Fishes are in fact the subject of many allegories contained in the Zuangzhi, a famous Daoist text dating back to the late fifth century BC.
