A VERY RARE AND IMPORTANT BLUE AND WHITE EWER, HUAJIAO
UNDERGLAZE BLUE YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER SEALMARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-35)
10½ in. (26.5 cm.) high

Inspired by Middle Eastern metalwork prototype with a wide cylindrical body rounded at the shoulder and base and moulded with chrysanthemum petals, the waisted neck with a knop in the mid-section, rising to a broad spout and applied with an arched handle terminating with a ruyi head, finely painted in the early 15th century style with simulated 'heaping and piling' effects around the body and the neck with bands of florets borne on delicate curled tendrils, the mouth rim with pendent tassels suspended from ruyi heads.