Ewer .
Very elegantly " pear-shaped", with large handle and spout . Painted in excellent cobalt-underglaze blue: on both sides a similar scene with a mandarin accompanied by his servant ; above 2 " tulip" flowers .
The cover in silver attached to the body .
period : TRANSITIONAL , ca. 1650 .
refer.: " Chine de Commande ," L. Scheurleer 1966 , who reproduces a well-known
painting from J.KALF ( 1685) : " Stilleven" , n° 40 , with an identical ewer .
" Chinesisches Porzellan " , Museum Frankfurt /Main (1977) , n° 82 .
This ewer here,with 2 spouts , is an interesting and rare example of a misunderstanding of a foreign order by the Chinese. Long S-shaped spouts are common on chinese ewers , so it was a natural thing for the potters to make such a spout on a ewer . The VOC started to order porcelain with western shapes around 1635. However, the Dutch model provided for this ewer apparently had the small, V-shaped european-style spout on the rim. The chinese potter copied the model faithfully, but, probably not understanding the use of the pinched spout, added his own traditional spout. Only a few comparable pieces are known, as such " failed" pieces would have been rejected by the dutch merchants .
A similar ewer is as such described in : " Chinese Ceramics in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam " , C. Jörg , n° 290 .
Ewers like this one,were based on metal models,and may have been used for wine, or for water for washing hands .
Perfect condition .Very rare model, ( for its 2 spouts ) .