Provenance
A Portuguese private collection, Lisbon.
Christie's London, 10 November 2015, 'Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art', lot 210. (sold GBP 20.000,00) (link)
Luis Allegria, Porto, with their label.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 29 March 2016, accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scan)
Exhibited:
TEFAF Maastricht, Luis Allegria, 2016.
Description
Heavily potted and of cylindrical drum form, the garden seat is surmounted by a slightly domed top and applied to either side with moulded monster-mask handles. Raised horizontal bands of rounded studs encircle the upper and lower sections, imitating the metal bosses found on contemporary leather drums. The body is finely painted in rich underglaze blue with a pair of elegant cranes and peacocks amidst flowering shrubs, pierced rockwork and bamboo in a continuous garden landscape. The domed top is decorated with further cranes in flight amongst scrolling clouds surrounding a central floral medallion, while the shoulder and foot are enriched with formal floral and geometric borders.
Porcelain garden seats of this type became highly fashionable during the Zhengde, Jiajing and Wanli reigns, when they were prized as both practical garden furnishings and decorative objects. Their form derives from leather-covered drums, with the applied studs and mask handles faithfully translating earlier prototypes into porcelain. The popularity of these stools extended well beyond China, blue and white examples continued to be produced for both the domestic and export markets into the Chongzhen period, as demonstrated by a closely related garden seat recovered from the Hatcher Cargo.
Reference:
A related seat, in the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated in Wang Qingzheng, 'Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong 1993, p. 231, fig. 5'.
Jiajing
H.: 36,2 cm
Estimation
€ 20.000,00 – € 40.000,00
Provenance
A Portuguese private collection, Lisbon.
Christie's London, 10 November 2015, 'Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art', lot 210. (sold GBP 20.000,00) (link)
Luis Allegria, Porto, with their label.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 29 March 2016, accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scan)
Exhibited:
TEFAF Maastricht, Luis Allegria, 2016.