AN EXTREMELY RARE INCISED WHITE EWER SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG

after a metalwork form, the jug potted with a straight body with a recessed band around the centre flanked by scalloped borders, before a raised shoulder bordered by grooves and a tall neck with a rounded bulb in the centre rising to a flared rim opening into a spout, finely incised with a formal foliate scroll with fine feathery leaves around the centre and a matching flower scroll around the shoulder, the bulb of the neck with small floral sprigs with upright leaves above and pendent petal panels and pearl strings below, the base inscribed with the six-character seal mark

Collection of Sir Harry Garner.
Bluett & Sons Ltd, London.
Collection of Edward T. Chow.

Chinese and Japanese Ceramics from the Collection of Sir Harry and Lady Garner, Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1973, no. 79, pl. XXII.
Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, The British Museum, London, 1994.

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 794.

There are two sections of restoration to tiny chips and frits on the mouth rim on either side of the spout - 1 cm and 2 cm. There is a small corner of the tip of the spout that appears to have been possibly restored. The body has a long firing crack about 20 cm to the luting line above the incised decoration with a touch of retouching to the top of the moulded edge. Two of the petals has a patch of glaze wear. But the overall condition is still quite good. The incised band is very crisp and clear.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This unusual form appears to be derived from a Middle Eastern metal shape, but such foreign vessels were rarely taken directly as models in the Qing dynasty. It was generally the potters of the Yongle period in the early Ming dynasty, who copied such forms, and the present ewer form, which exists both with and without handle, and comes also with blue-and-white decoration in early Ming style, may be an adaptation of an early Ming porcelain form, which in turn is based on Middle Eastern metal prototypes. Compare a fragmentary white porcelain ewer recovered from the Yongle stratum of the Ming imperial kiln sites, included in the exhibition Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1989, cat. no. 6. However, a 12th/13th century Iranian metal ewer from the Keir collection, which is more closely related to this Qing dynasty form than to the early Ming version is illustrated in Geza Fehervari, Islamic Metalwork of the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection, London, 1976, pl. 15.

The Palace Museum, Beijing holds a similar white flower-watering vessel, as well as a blue-and-white example, a blue-and-white example with handle, a teadust-glazed piece and a flambé-glazed one with handle, all of Yongzheng mark and period; see Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuyao ciqi [Qing porcelains from the imperial kilns preserved in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, vol. 1, part 2, pls. 43, 44, 90, 143, and The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 244.

Another white ewer from the Grandidier collection in the Musée Guimet, Paris, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collections,  Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, 1980-82, vol. 7, fig. 170. Vessels of this form are better known with celadon glazes, like the piece from the Avery Brundage collection in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in He Li, Chinese Ceramics. A New Standard Guide, London, 1996, pl. 544; and others sold at Christie's London, 28th/29th June 1965, lot 98, from the Richard C. Fuller collection; in these rooms, 31st October 1995, lot 408; and at Christie's Hong Kong, 28th November 2005, lot 1312, from the Ruth P. Phillips collection.