A rare Chinese famille rose holy water stoup and cover, Qianlong

H.: 21 cm

Provenance: An old Portuguese private collection.

Condition: (UV-checked)
- The water stoup generally in very good condition, with some normal wear to the overglazed enamel design, and some typical overpainting in the middle on the front.
- The cover with a hairline restored, and some related overspraing.

品相：（已用紫外线光检查）
- 圣水池近乎全品，釉上彩磨损，正面中间有一些补彩痕迹。
- 盖子有冲线修复。

Ref.:
- Bonham's, Cohen & Cohen 50  - Years of Chinese Export Porcelain, New York, January 24, 2023, for another example. (sold USD 6.375) (link)
The lot essay states:
Stoups are intended to hold small quantities of holy water for people to dip their fingers in before making the sign of the cross. They were often placed at the entrances to churches or holy sites.
The form is known in Delftware, faïence and metalwork but is rare in Chinese export porcelain. Dias, 1996, suggests that the presence of a cover means it was probably for private use rather than in a church where continual daily use negated its need.  

A pair of the same type and decoration as this can be found in the Museu da Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva, Lisbon. A few examples are known in blue and white of similar shape, marked IHS to the back plate, for usy by Jesuits.

Further references: Antunes, 2000, p. 55, no. 39, a pair identical to this example, in the collection of Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva, also published Antunes, 1999, p. 91; Dias, 1996, p. 52-3, discussion of such pieces; Sargent, 2012, p. 310, a blue and white example in the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA (AE85322.ab) purchased from Cohen & Cohen in 1996 and reference to a second example in the museum (E82867) purchased from Cohen & Pearce in 1990; a fragment of a blue and white back plate, now in the Bangkok National Museum, Thailand, was excavated in 1984 from San Petro, a Dominican church destroyed by the Burmese in 1767, at Ayutthaya, a former Portuguese settlement; Cohen & Cohen, 2014, no. 22, a further blue and white example; Sapage, 1992, cat. 24, a blue and white example of different shape with back-plate in the form of a crucifix, and inscribed IHS; Pinto de Matos, 2011, Vol. 3, p. 194, no. 492, a blue and white cruciform stoup.