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Mounted bowl with figural decoration

Chinese porcelain, French mounts
Chongzhen period
Porcelain: 1628–44, mounts: early 18th century

Medium/Technique Porcelain, Jingdezhen ware early transitional blue-and-white ware; decoration in underglaze cobalt blue, with later (probably European) additions of overglaze red and green enamels and gilding; gilt-bronze mounts
Dimensions Overall: 14.4 x 22 x 19 cm (5 11/16 x 8 11/16 x 7 1/2 in.)
Credit Line Bequest of Forsyth Wickes—The Forsyth Wickes Collection
Accession Number65.2258
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Asia
ClassificationsCeramicsPorcelain

DescriptionOne of Two with 65.2259. The porcelain bowls have rounded walls that rise steeply from a circular foot and curve inward at the mount. The decorative scheme, painted primarily in underglaze blue cobalt enamel, features military figures in mountainous landscapes bordered by ribbonlike clouds. A general stands in front of a lakeside balustrade addressing a lady while his attendant discreetly waits nearby. To the right, two soldiers guard the general's tent as a groom tethers his piebald horse; to the left, various flowers and a banana tree lead to a soaring, cloud-enveloped precipice that completes the composition. The rims of the bowls have been ground down and the footrings chiseled away, to accommodate the gilt-bronze mounts. The bowls are fitted with a stepped gilt-bronze base with a gadrooned band. Rising from the base are two openwork straps each decorated with two dolphin handles beneath a shaped loop handle. A collar with punched decoration encircles the rims.
ProvenanceBy 1952, Georges de Batz and Co., New York; February 13, 1952, Georges de Batz sold to Forsyth Wickes (b.1876 - d. 1964), New York and Newport, RI; 1965, bequest of Wickes to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 24, 1965)