£23,750
Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art | 658
Auction: 5 November 2021 at 10:00 GMT
清康熙 青花四季花卉圖菱花式鳳首壺(一對)
each of quatrefoil baluster form, painted on the bulbous body in panels with various flowers issuing amongst rockwork above a frieze of lotus petals, the undulating spout terminating in a phoenix head joined to the tall neck flaring to a garlic-form head, with a floral form lid
Provenance: Property of the late Hon. Elizabeth Fairbairn
Note: Ewers of this form were originally inspired by Middle Eastern metal wares and were made for the export market. They were meant to exist in pairs. It is very rare to have their original lids still kept with the ewers. Compare a closely related ewer from the Avery Brundage collection now at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, acc. no. B60P249. A pair from the Grandidier collection, now at the Louvre museum, was paired with three blue and white bottle vases to form an ad hoc garniture set and is illustrated in La Ceramique Chinoise: De l’epoque de K’ang-Hi a nos jours, Paris, 1922, pl. 244. Two further comparable pairs were respectively sold at Christie's New York on 28 January 2013, lot 404 and Sotheby's New York on 20 March 2018, lot 452.