18.
A ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ POMEGRANATE-SHAPED KENDI
Ming dynasty, Wanli period
18,8 cm high
Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro, (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 3748.
The mouth rim of this kendi was potted in the shape of a pomegranate calyx. The pomegranate (shiliu) due to its many seeds symbolises the wish for many children and continuity of the family.
The creative form can be seen as a result of the decline in formal orders from the Court which required the potters to expand their appeal to the domestic and export markets.
The ewer is painted around the sides with pomegranate shaped cartouches enclosing scholars in landscapes, invoking the idyllic nature retreat the literati would aspire to retire to. This alternate with cartouches enclosing the burst skin of the fruit revealing numerous seeds. The leafy pomegranate shaped neck and mouth is painted with a bands of ruyi, symbolising the wish for long life. The spout emerges from the moulded jaws of a dragon spouting flames. A closely related example is in the British Museum, London (S. Pierson, Illustrated Catalogue of Underglaze Blue and Copper Red Decorated Porcelains in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London 2004, p. 65, n. A659).
