A blue and white 'Pomegranate' ewer, Wanli period (1573-1619). Estimate $6,000 - $8,000. Price Realized $23,750. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The ewer has a bulbous body surmounted by a tall slender neck rising to a flaring star-form mouth rim. The curved spout is decorated as a branch with molded leaves. The body is decorated with panels containing blossoming branches beneath a thin band of flower and wan-filled panels, all below the neck decorated with a bird on rocks amidst flowering plants. 7 ½ in. (19.1 cm.) high. 

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, 1980.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: The popular name for this type of kendi is 'pomegranate ewer', owing to the distinctive star-shaped mouth rim. A very similar ewer in the Fondation Custodia (Coll. F. Lugt), Institut Néerlandais, Paris, is illustrated by Maura Rinaldi in Kraak Porcelain, A Moment in the History of Trade, London, 1989, pl. 277, where the author suggests a date of circa1595-1610 for this type of kendi.

Christie's. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza