A rare blue and white peach-form ewer, Chongzhen period (1628-1644)
Lot 1186. A rare blue and white peach-form ewer, Chongzhen period (1628-1644), 7 ¾ in (12 cm.) high. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 12,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017
The peach-shaped ewer is decorated on each side in vibrant shades of blue with two peaches and blossoming branches, the body is surmounted by a flared lotus-form mouth, flanked by an upright S-scroll spout and a C-scroll handle joined to the body with applied leaf-form struts, Japanese wood box.
Note: The present ewer is notable for its peach-form, as well as the charming and naturalistic decoration of fruits and leaves issuing from the twisted trunk which forms the stem. Compare a related teapot decorated with similar flying insects and fruiting, leafy branches, recovered from the Hatcher shipwreck (circa 1643), sold at Christie's Amsterdam, 14 March 1984, lot 56, and illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 360, no. 12:17. See, also, a peach-form ewer, also recovered from the Hatcher shipwreck, and illustrated by M. Beurdeley and G. Raindre, Qing Porcelain: Famille Verte, Famille Rose, London, 1987, p. 15. pl. 2.
Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 14 - 15 September 2017, New York