Sold Ceramics
Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722
Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares
Page 2
Around 1680, Emperor Kangxi (1662–1722) established his authority over all parts of China after a long period of civil strife. The porcelain factories in Jingdezhen that were demolished in 1675 resumed production and within a few years exports were booming. Chinese junks sailed to Batavia, bringing their porcelain to the market. From there, it was shipped to the Netherlands in VOC (Dutch East India Company, 1602–1799) vessels. However, private individuals bypassed the Company and also imported huge quantities of porcelain to Holland. In Europe, a change in dining habits and the introduction of tea and coffee created new demands. New varieties of Chinese export porcelain were produced, including all kinds of Western shapes. Porcelain, sometimes in miniature, was frequently used to decorate house interiors in Europe.
Much porcelain of this period is decorated in a clear, transparent underglaze blue. Popular decorations included the Buddhist lotus motif, a pheasant with long tail feathers on a rock amidst flowers, and the ‘Long Eliza’ with the 'Dancing Fool', the Dutch name for a Chinese lady and a small boy depicted in a garden.
Kangxi porcelain is very well made, with a thin body, a balanced shape and a smooth glaze without impurities. Cobalt blue oxide was subtly applied in varying degrees of saturation, suggesting depth and volume. The colour ranges from a silvery to a deep dark blue; in the best pieces the details and the craftsmanship are amazing. However, due to stricter controls by officials, the freedom and easy way of painting that was so characteristic of the preceding Transitional period now gave way to a more formal style with an emphasis on symmetry and centralism.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares - Page 2
Object 2010975
Teapot
China
c.1700
Height with cover 128 mm (5.04 inch), height without cover 95 mm (3.74 inch), diameter handle to spout 162 mm (6.38 inch), dimensions of mouth 35 mm (1.38 inch) x 28 mm (1.10 inch), dimensions of foot 85 mm (3.35 inch) x 62 mm (2.44 inch)
Teapot of rectangular form with canted corners. Four flat feet at the corners. A flat shoulder and a short upright neck. Original cover with an animal shaped knob. Straight spout an a C-shaped handle. Decorated in underglaze blue. Of the eight vertical panels two are filled with a figure in a riverscape with houses, trees, mountains and the sun, two other panels are filled with flowering branches and insects in flight. On four panels a single cartouche filled with antiquities, reserved on a trellis pattern ground. On the shoulder in each corner a cartouche filled with a single flower reserved on a honey comb pattern. Round the neck a zig-zag lines pattern border. On the handle and spout florets between scrolls. On the cover four antiquities, the knob shaped in the form of an animal, most likely a lion.
Condition: A restored neck and a restored chip to the underside of the cover. A firing crack to the handle. Glaze loss spots to various spots on corners and edges of the teapot and cover.
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares - Page 2
Object 2011579
Saucer
China
1700-1720
Height 18 mm (0.71 inch), diameter of rim 114 mm (4.49 inch), diameter of footring 57 mm (2.24 inch), weight 68 grams (2.40 ounce (oz.))
Saucer on footring, slightly everted rim. Decorated in underglaze blue and gold. In the central roundel a hare in reserve against an underglaze blue ground surrounded by a lappet pattern border. On the sides the three legged toad, Jin Chan, 金 蟾, literally "Golden Toad" alternating with flower sprays. Around the rim a zig-zag lines pattern border. On the base a square shop mark in underglaze blue. The decoration in gold has completely rubbed off but is still visible in ghost form.
The three legged toad, Jin Chan, 金 蟾, literally "Golden Toad", is most commonly translated as "Money Toad" or "Money Frog". This mythical creature is said to appear during the full moon, near houses or businesses that will soon receive good news (most of the time, the nature of this good news is understood to be wealth-related). According to one Chinese legend, the Jin Chan was the greedy wife of one of the Eight Immortals, who was transformed into a toad as punishment for stealing the Peaches of Immortality. The Jin Chan is usually depicted as a bullfrog with red eyes, flared nostrils and only one hind leg (for a total of three legs) and is often shown in the company of the Immortal Liu Hai (刘 海). Both Hare and Toad are ‘semi immortal’ animals, the Hare relating to a story for a fairly lady in the moon (Chang O) and the toad (Jin Chan) relates to the immortal Liu Hai. Note the ‘air/breath’ Jin Chan breaths out indicating a mythical magic or blessing work in action. (wikipedia / S.Fan)
In Daoist mythology the three-legged toad is said to live on the moon, which it swallows during an eclipse, this making it a symbol of the unattainable. (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.106, cat. 100)
The hare is the symbol of longevity, fotr it is believed to grind, on the moon, the ingredients of the elixir of longevity. The toad is the symbol of the unattainable. Evoked to obtain wealth. Symbol of Spring, of fertilising rain and luck. (Pinto de Matos 1996, p.275 & p.279)
A decoration of a hare and frogs on tea wares, may have been met with amazement by Westerners, who would have considered the combination hare with frogs and tea as weird. (Jörg 2011/2, p.131)
Condition: Some fleabites and a shallow glaze chip to the rim and some chips to the inner footring.
References:
Pinto de Matos 1996, p.275 & p.279
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 100
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares - Page 2
Object 2010202
Tea caddy
China
1700-1720
Height with cover 115 mm (4.53 inch), dimensions 92 mm (3.62 inch) x 50 mm (1.97 inch)
Tea caddy of rectangular form with canted corners, a ribbed body on a flat unglazed base. On the flat top an unglazed cylindrical mouth with a lid fitting (original) cover. The tea-caddy and cover with underglaze brown-edged rims (jia mangkou). Decorated in underglaze blue. On the ribbed body and shoulder an overall decoration of flowering plants growing from rockwork. On the sides of the cover flower sprays and on top a single flowering stem.
Condition: Very tiny glaze rough spots to the ribbing of the tea-caddy and to the rim of the cover.
Reference:
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares - Page 2
Object 201099L
Saucer
China
c.1700
Height 20 mm (0.79 inch), diameter of rim 102 mm (4.02 inch), diameter of footring 57 mm (2.24 inch)
Saucer on a footring with a flat rim. Decorated in underglaze blue with a 'Long Eliza' figure siiting on pierced rockwork under a tree in a fenced garden holding a branch while looking a little dancing boy. On the flattened rim a trellis pattern border with four cartouches filled with flower heads. On the reverse four of the Eight Precious Objects. Marked on the base with the four-character mark featuring Zhi: Cheng hua nian zhi, (Made during the Chenghua reign (1465-1487)), in a double circle, underglaze blue
For an identically decorated saucer, please see:
- Aziatische Ceramiek en Glas, (D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, exhibition catalogue of the J.M. van Diepen Collection, Fraeylemaborg, Slochteren, 1982), pp.21-22, cat. 50.
- Porzellan aus China und Japan. Die Porzellangalerie der Landgrafen von Hessen-Kassel, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Kassel, Berlin 1990, p.360 & p.317, cat. 85a & 85b.
Condition: Perfect.
References:
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1982/2, pp.21-22, cat. 50
Kassel 1990, pp.316-317, cat. 85a & 85b
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares - Page 2
Object 2011658
Vase (converted into a tea caddy)
China
1700-1720
Height with cover 114 mm (4.49 inch), height without cover 82 mm (3.23 inch), diameter 57 mm (2.24 inch), diameter of mouthrim 31 mm (1.22 inch), diameter of footring 35 mm (1.38 inch), weight including cover 135 grams (4.76 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 11 grams (0.39 ounce (oz.))
A spirally moulded ovoid vase on footring. Fitted with Dutch silver mounts (marked) converting it into a tea caddy. Decorated in underglaze blue with a continuous decoration of flowering branches and insects in flight. Around the neck and foot a spiral pattern border. The silver marks explained: the makers mark, a star topped with the initial 'V' for the maker Jacobus van Vorst (1816-?), active as a silversmith in Rotterdam (1840-1865). The sword mark was used (1814-1905) as the standard mark on articles too small for the full hallmarking.
For a similarly shaped, sized and decorated vase, please see:
- Chinese ceramiek, catalogue Haags Gemeentemuseum, (B. Jansen, De Tijdstroom, Lochem, 1976), p.124, cat. 277.
-
Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Other Vases - Page 1 - Object 2010210.
Condition: Two firing flaws to the footring.
Reference:
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares - Page 2
Object 2010955
Teacup and saucer
China
c.1700
Height of teacup 52 mm (1.14 inch), diameter of rim 81 mm (2.20 inch), diameter of footring 40 mm (1.18 inch)
Height of saucer 21 mm (0.59 inch), diameter of rim 132 mm (3.54 inch), diameter of footring 66 mm (1.97 inch)
Teacup and saucer on footrings with curving spirally rims fluted in eight lobes. Decorated in underglaze blue with a scholar on horseback riding through a river landscape, an attendant walking behind walking behind holding a parasol. A fortress with a brick wall in the background. On the sides and rim radiating panels with a scholar on horseback alternating with a pagoda in a landscape. On the reverse eight flower sprays. Marked on the base with the symbol mark: Flower, the symbol for purity in a double circle, underglaze blue. The teacup is decorated en suite.
Condition coffee cup: Two tiny fleabites to the rim.
Condition saucer: Three fleabites, three frits and a hairline to the rim.
Price: Sold.
Not illustrated, object 2010952, another identically, shaped, sized and decorated, sold teacup and saucer.
Not illustrated, object 2010953, another identically, shaped, sized and decorated, sold teacup and saucer.
Not illustrated, object 2010954, another identically, shaped, sized and decorated, sold teacup and saucer.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares - Page 2
Object 2010819
Small saucer
China
c.1700
Height 16 mm (0.63 inch), diameter of rim 63 mm (2.48 inch), diameter of footring 31 mm (1.22 inch)
Saucer on footring. Decorated in underglaze blue with a chrysanthemum flower head in a central roundel. On the sides cartouches filled with a sitting "Long Eliza" figure alternating with and a diaper pattern. Around the rim zig-zag lines pattern border. On the reverse antiquities. Marked on the base with the single character mark: Qiu, (Autumn, harvest time, (Qing)), in a double circle, underglaze blue.
Condition: A hairline.
Reference:
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares - Page 2
Object 2010461
Saucer
China
c.1700
Height 16 mm (0.63 inch), diameter of rim 104 mm (4.10 inch), diameter of footring 58 mm (2.28 inch)
Saucer on footring, slightly everted rim. Decorated in underglaze blue with scrolls of branches and flowering stems. Around rim a zig-zag lines pattern border. the reverse with three flower sprays. Marked on the base with the symbol mark: 'Lotus', symbol of purity and one of the eight Buddhist Emblems, in a double circle, underglaze blue.
Identically decorated saucers, cups and covers were found in the cargo of the Vung Tau Wreck, please see;
Condition: Perfect.
References:
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares - Page 2
Object 2010973
Saucer
China
c.1700
Height 22 mm (0.87 inch), diameter of rim 132 mm (5.20 inch), diameter of footring 75 mm (2.95 inch)
Saucer on footring, slightly everted rim. Decorated in underglaze blue with five butterflies flying in between flowering peony branches with scrolls of leafy flowering stems. Around the rim a zig-zag lines pattern border. On the reverse two flower sprays. Marked on the base with the symbol mark: Moon hare, symbol of lovers reunion, in a double circle, underglaze blue.
Condition: A chip to the outer rim.
Reference:
Price: Sold.
create websites