323.
A POLYCROME ENAMELE ‘POMEGRANATE’ TUREEN AND COVER
Qing dynasty, late Qianlong period
12,5 x 14,4 cm
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 4140.
Small tureens of this shape were produced in the Jingdezhen kilns in the last decades of the eighteenth century, explicitly intended for export to Europe. Regarding the enameled decoration, among the several variations the best known is certainly the one with the so-called “tobacco leaf” motif. This specimen from the Duca di Martina Museum is distinguished by the presence of a moulded detail reproducing the seeds of the pomegranate.
Although in China the pomegranate (shiliu) has a precise symbolism associated with fertility and the wish for numerous offspring, it is more than probable that the Europeans were unaware of it and instead were attracted by this kind of artefacts above all for the naturalistic vein with which they were modeled.
