A RARE PAIR OF BLUE AND WHITE LEAF-SHAPED PEDESTAL SALTS FOR THE DUTCH OR ENGLISH MARKET Kangxi period, circa 1700 Each unusually molded with a concave flat top section of leaf outline, the top painted with a central flowering spray within a floral border, the sides similar and standing on a waisted base. 2 1/2in. (6.5cm) wide (2). Footnotes: 康熙時期 約1700年 稀有青花葉形高足鹽碟一對 Published Cohen & Cohen, A Game of Bowls, Gent, 2014, p. 18, no. 13 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《A Game of Bowls》，安特衛普，2014年，頁18，圖版編號13 This type of leaf-molded salt cellar is an unusual form, and the relatively early dating suggests this pair was the result of a Dutch VOC commission, not an English East India Company one. It is likely therefore that this pair was modelled after a Delft original, and the Delft version probably also owes something to an earlier silver (or brass) prototype, since the shape is emphatically not a conventional ceramic form. It is surprising that such a specialized table accessory was worth commissioning as a blue and white version in China rather than simply buying the locally manufactured Dutch (or English) tin-glazed earthenware model. Salt was a highly prized and expensive commodity in Europe two centuries earlier, but by 1700 it was much less revered as a necessary condiment on a standard dining table, or as a key preservative to keep fish and meat 'fresh' until needed in the bleak depths of winter. References: Cohen & Cohen, 2007, p. 6, no. 2, a pair of similar salts shaped as fish. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ¤ ¤ Without reserve