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拍品专文
The origin of so called “magic fountain” ewers has long attracted scholarly attention, as both form and decoration reflect a synthesis of cultural influences. The shape derives from Near Eastern metalwork, while the painted decoration brings together Chinese visual vocabulary and foreign elements. Characteristic features include a qilin associated with the fountain, flame motifs on the spout and handle, and stylised lappet borders.
The present example represents a rare variant of the type. Instead of presenting the fountain as the central motif, the composition is organised around an architectural setting, with a pagoda rendered with a notable sense of spatial recession. Within this structure, the qilin appears to support the fountain on its back, creating a more complex and spatially conceived image that may reflect an awareness of foreign pictorial conventions.
Comparable “magic fountain” ewers are preserved in major collections, including the Topkapi Saray Museum and the Ardabil Shrine, some fitted with Near Eastern metal mounts dating to the seventeenth century, attesting to their wide circulation. Examples are also recorded in European collections and appear in seventeenth century paintings, confirming their role as export wares. It has been suggested that the fountain motif may relate in part to Christian imagery transmitted through missionary networks active in Macau during the sixteenth century, although this interpretation remains debated.
Within this context, the present ewer stands out for its inventive reworking of the motif, combining architectural space and mythological imagery in a manner that is both rare and of considerable art historical interest.
Closely related Jiajing marked examples are preserved in important collections. Compare an ewer published by Marchant in Recent Acquisitions, 2010, no. 3, pp. 8–9 and back cover; another illustrated by Regina Krahl and John Ayers in Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, Yuan and Ming Dynasty Porcelains, vol. II, no. 1013 (collection no. TKS 15⁄1462), pp. 453 and 654; and further related examples illustrated ibid., nos. 1014–1016, pp. 655–656. See also a comparable Jiajing period example from the Lenora and Walter F. Brown Collection, sold at Christie's New York, 25 September 2020, lot 1559.
The present example represents a rare variant of the type. Instead of presenting the fountain as the central motif, the composition is organised around an architectural setting, with a pagoda rendered with a notable sense of spatial recession. Within this structure, the qilin appears to support the fountain on its back, creating a more complex and spatially conceived image that may reflect an awareness of foreign pictorial conventions.
Comparable “magic fountain” ewers are preserved in major collections, including the Topkapi Saray Museum and the Ardabil Shrine, some fitted with Near Eastern metal mounts dating to the seventeenth century, attesting to their wide circulation. Examples are also recorded in European collections and appear in seventeenth century paintings, confirming their role as export wares. It has been suggested that the fountain motif may relate in part to Christian imagery transmitted through missionary networks active in Macau during the sixteenth century, although this interpretation remains debated.
Within this context, the present ewer stands out for its inventive reworking of the motif, combining architectural space and mythological imagery in a manner that is both rare and of considerable art historical interest.
Closely related Jiajing marked examples are preserved in important collections. Compare an ewer published by Marchant in Recent Acquisitions, 2010, no. 3, pp. 8–9 and back cover; another illustrated by Regina Krahl and John Ayers in Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, Yuan and Ming Dynasty Porcelains, vol. II, no. 1013 (collection no. TKS 15⁄1462), pp. 453 and 654; and further related examples illustrated ibid., nos. 1014–1016, pp. 655–656. See also a comparable Jiajing period example from the Lenora and Walter F. Brown Collection, sold at Christie's New York, 25 September 2020, lot 1559.