Ref: V987
Archive item - not for sale
Extremely rare Chinese blue and white ewer (aftaba), Kangxi (1662-1722), with pear-shaped body, 'S' shaped spout and dragon-head terminal to handle, decorated with vignettes enclosing a pheasant and branches above rockwork, the spreading foot with flower heads and a cross-diaper band, height: 11 1/2in., 29.2cm. The shape is derived from a Turkish or Indian metal form. Ewers of this type were usually accompanied by a basin. It was made at Jingdezhen in south-west China at the end of the 17th century for export to India or the Middle East, where these ewers were used for hand washing. In the 17th century, the courts of India were very prosperous and had been collecting Chinese blue and white since the Yuan dynasty. A similar ewer can be seen in the Topkapi Palace Museum Catalogue; also see Stamen, Volk & Ye, 'A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-Era Porcelain from the Rui Tang Collection', p. 240, pl. 109. for an illustrated example. SOLD
