FOUR BLUE AND WHITE HEXAGONAL RETICULATED TRIPOD SALTS Kangxi period, circa 1720 Painted in rich underglaze cobalt blue with two roosters in the shallow well of each with prunus branches hanging from a rockface above and cockscomb rising between them, the rim with a diaper cell ground with prunus flowerheads, each raised on three masked feet, the tapering waisted bodies with honey-comb pattern openwork. 2 1/2in (6cm) high; 3 1/4in (8.5cm) across (4). Footnotes: 康熙時期 約1720年 青花玲瓏六方三足鹽碟四件 Published: Cohen & Cohen, Hit & Myth, Antwerp, 2014-B, p. 7, no. 3a 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Hit & Myth》，安特衛普，2014年-B，頁7，圖版編號3a Such openwork as seen here is commonly called linglong or guigong (devils' work), a type of work recorded by Father d'Entrecolle in his letters to superiors in the 1720s. He said, 'The appearance of these pieces is singular; one does not at first understand that they have a solidity proportioned to their size.' The work can be found on all manner of pieces including plates, baskets, and boxes, as well as cups and pouring vessels with double walls. Salts were a critical accoutrement for the well-set table. The 1548 inventory of the estate of Margarida Pegada of Elvas in Portugal mentions 'a porcelain salt cellar from India valued at one hundred réys,' with the first record of porcelain open salts from China for the Dutch in 1608, when they asked Chinese suppliers for '1000 salt-cellars, if they can make them.' (Pinto de Matos, 2011, Vol. II, 71) References: A single example in the Princessehof Museum, Leeuwarden, in Scheurleer, 1974, no. 176.