A powder blue wine pot. China, Kangxi

The cylindrical wine pot with a broad shoulder tapering toward the foot ring has a S-shaped spout and an ear-shaped handle. It is painted in underglaze powder blue, overglaze famille verte enamels and gold. On each side is a barbed quatrefoil panel outlined in gold and reserved in white.

The wine pot presents two distinct scenes: on one side, an elegantly attired lady reclines against a table bearing three small containers, situated within in a fenced garden adorned with shrubs and foliage emerging from a perforated rock in the background. The opposite side depicts a lady seated on a stool, gazing at herself in a mirror amidst a garden.

COUNTRY : China

PERIOD : Kangxi (1662-1722)

MATERIAL : Porcelaine

SIZE : 22 cm

REFERENCE : E633

STATUT : available

Related works :

A powder blue wine pot of the same shape but with different panel decorations can be found in the collection of August the Strong at the Porzellansammlung in Dresden[1], and a comparable example is in the Jui Tang Collection[2].

Three powder blue wine pots were recently published in Noble Blue – The Enduring appeal of blue ground Chinese porcelain[3].

Other examples are in the Musée Guimet in Paris, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in the Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire in Brussels or in Blenheim Palace in England.

[1] Inv.no.PO3263

[2] Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-Era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Jieruitang Publishing, 2017, p. 243, no. 116.

[3]Noble Blue, 2023, Jorge Welsh books, no. 27, no. 40

Additonal informations :

This blue ground is referred to in Chinese as “chuiqing” or “blown blue”, in French as “bleu poudré” or “bleu soufflé” and in English as “powder blue”.

One of the most admired and popular themes in Chinese porcelain during the Kangxi period (1662-1722) depicts an elegant and relaxed Chinese lady leisurely strolling through a garden. These images likely draw inspiration from paintings portraying beautiful ladies within their cultural environment. Such figures became particularly popular in Europe where the design came to be known as “lange lizen” in Dutch, or “Long Elizas” in English.

Wine has a long history in China. Wine production began during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 BC) or perhaps during the period of the Three Kingdoms (220 BC to 280 BC). Throughout this extensive period of development, wine was traditionally produced from grain rather than fruit. Tang poetry played a significant role in ensuring the growing popularity of wine.

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