A FAMILLE ROSE HOLY WATER STOUP AND COVER Qianlong period, circa 1760 the stoup of wall hanging type with flat shaped backplate painted with a composite hibiscus spray to one side, the stoup below with nineteen ribbed lappets painted with simple single flower sprays and further leaves mirrored in the ribbed cover, the back plate unglazed and pierced for suspension. 8 1/4in (21cm) high Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1760年 粉彩花卉紋挂墻聖水缽 Published Cohen & Cohen, Tyger Tyger!, Antwerp, 2016, pp. 64-65, no. 28 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Tyger Tyger!》，安特衛普，2016年，頁64-65，圖版編號28 Stoups are intended to hold small quantities of holy water for people to dip their fingers in before making the sign of the cross. They were often placed at the entrances to churches or holy sites. The form is known in delftware, faïence and metalwork but is rare in Chinese export porcelain. Dias, 1996, suggests that the presence of a cover means it was probably for private use rather than in a church where continual daily use negated its need.   A pair of the same type and decoration as this can be found in the Museu da Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva, Lisbon. A few examples are known in blue and white of similar shape, marked IHS to the back plate, for the Jesuits. References: Antunes, 2000, p. 55, no. 39, a pair identical to this example, in the collection of Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva, also published Antunes, 1999, p. 91; Dias, 1996, p. 52-3, discussion of such pieces; Sargent, 2012, p. 310, a blue and white example in the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA (AE85322.ab) purchased from Cohen & Cohen in 1996 and reference to a second example in the museum (E82867) purchased from Cohen & Pearce in 1990; a fragment of a blue and white back plate, now in the Bangkok National Museum, Thailand, was excavated in 1984 from San Petro, a Dominican church destroyed by the Burmese in 1767, at Ayutthaya, a former Portuguese settlement; Cohen & Cohen, 2014, no. 22, a further blue and white example; Sapage, 1992, cat. 24, a blue and white example of different shape with back-plate in the form of a crucifix, and inscribed IHS; Pinto de Matos, 2011, Vol. 3, p. 194, no. 492, a blue and white cruciform stoup.