A RARE CHINESE IMARI 'MONK'S-CAP' EWER AND COVER Kangxi period, circa 1710 The bulbous body and lotus-petal-molded neck and rim painted in underglaze blue, enameled in iron-red and gilt with two panels variously depicting scholarly accessories and vessels including a wrapped qin stringed instrument, a Weiqi games board, a compressed globular brush washer, a large vase of peacock feathers and an archaistic rectangular bronze ding, objects mostly representing elements of the 'Four Scholarly Accomplishments', the tightly- looped handle applied with a flowerhead terminal at the lower end. 5 1/4in (13cm) high Footnotes: 康熙時期 約1710年 稀有中國伊萬里開光帶蓋《僧帽壺》 Published Cohen & Cohen, The Elephant in the Room, Antwerp, 2019, p. 4, no. 1 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《The Elephant in the Room》，安特衛普，2019年，頁4，圖版編號1 Although this shape has evolved some distance from the medieval porcelain form created during the early Ming period around 1415, the present lot still shares the unmistakable angular raised rim above the spout which at some distance imitates a Tibetan monk's cap. The form of these rare ewers is known as sengmaohu, recalling this resemblance to the profile of monastic textile hats. The shape of these porcelain ewers was originally created in metal, but was subsequently copied in porcelain, notably in the reign of the Ming Emperor Yongle who restored diplomatic relations with Tibet in 1412, and who was a devout follower of the rather distinctive rituals of Tibetan Buddhism rather than the conventional Indian Buddhist traditions. Most Chinese examples of this shape are decorated with Buddhist lotus flowers and (Daoist) precious objects as on this present lot, although this example also has other objects added as purely decorative features; any association with Tibetan Buddhism has probably long since been lost. Notable Ming dynasty prototypes from which this very distinctive form evolved over three centures include the following examples: Shoudu bowuguan (Capital Museum), Beijing: a qingbai-glazed ewer excavated in 1965 from a Yuan tomb in the Haiding district, Beijing; British Museum, no. 1952,0512.1: a Yongle period (1403-1424) example; Jingdezhen Ceramics Archaeology Institute: several examples excavated by government archaeologists at the spoil heaps of the Imperial kiln sites in Zhushan in 1983, including white-glazed and copper-red-glazed examples from the Yongle strata, and a blue and white example from the Xuande period, all exhibited in 2014; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (EA1978.2073): an early Qing dynasty revival example glazed copper-red, dated to 1700-1720 but bearing an apocryphal Xuande mark; Metropolitan Museum, no. 29.100.314: an example decorated in underglaze-copper-red, Qianlong mark and period (1736-95). References: Harrison-Hall 2001, no. 3:2; Michael Vickers, Oliver Impey, and James Allan (1986), From Silver to Ceramic: The Potter's Debt to Metalwork in the Graeco-Roman, Oriental and Islamic Worlds (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1986), pl. 60.