Ref: X808
£ 1,250
Price is subject to availability and market conditions.
Chinese blue and white klapmuts bowl, Wanli (1573-1619), decorated in the centre with a vessel of archaic form with tall square handle containing peaches and foliage, the deep cavetto with alternating panels containing peaches and flowers or precious beribboned objects, interspersed by narrow cartouches with dot and bracket motif, the gently fluted rim with stylised fruiting boughs issuing from rockwork, the reverse with three floral scrolls to the rim and six large circular cartouches containing fruiting sprays to the deep bowl.
Notes:
The name 'Klapmuts' derives from the Dutch klapmutsen hats as they share a similar shape, with rounded walls and flattened rim. The peaches which feature on this bowl are a symbol of longevity, a preoccupation of the tradition of Daoism to which the fruits are a key motif. Peaches are frequently depicted in reference to the Daoist Immortals, who famously attended the Feast of Peaches (蟠桃會) held by the Jade Emperor, ruler of all of the Heavens and his wife, the Queen Mother of the West. This legendary banquet features prominently in Ming novels including Journey to the West (attributed to Wu Cheng’en c.1500-c.1580). It is supposedly held at the Jade Pool of the Emperor’s Golden-Gate Cloud Palace to celebrate the ripening of the peaches from the Queen Mother’s Garden. These peaches of immortality (pantao蟠桃) only ripen every few thousand years, and are shared amongst the immortals to sustain them until the next banquet.
