A POWDER-BLUE GROUND AND ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ OVOID JAR AND COVER, GUAN

67.

A POWDER-BLUE GROUND AND ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ OVOID JAR AND COVER, GUAN
Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, late 17th–early 18th century
22,5 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina,Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 3440.

The jar with ovoid body surmounted by a domed cover with flattened upper side, the exterior with a ground of brilliant powdered blue with a series of various shaped cartouches, the bigger ones with some of the ‘One Hundred Antiquities’, the smaller ones with flowers and birds compositions, two concentric circles to the centre of the base.

The use of antiques as decoration for porcelain spread in China from the late Ming dynasty. The group of objects collectively known as ‘Hundred Antiquities’ (bogu) comprises various kind of vessels, books, ruyi sceptres and other items usually related to the refined world of literati.

A nearly identical jar was in the collection of Augustus the Strong (1670-1733), now in the Porzellansammlung in Dresden (inv. n. 2921).