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Famille verte wall cistern and cover: OC.37 & A-1938

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An image of Wall cistern
An image of Wall cistern
An image of Wall cistern
Current Location: Gallery 28 - Arts of Asia Gallery

Titles

Famille verte wall cistern and cover

Maker(s)

Production: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Wall cistern and cover. Hard-paste porcelain painted in yellow, red, green, tuquoise, blue, aubergine and black enamels, and gilding, with figures on a terrace.

Wall cistern and cover. Hard-paste porcelain painted in a vivid enamel palette of yellow, red, green, tuquoise, blue, aubergine and black with details in gilding. The full pear-shaped body is centred above the foot with a protruding yellow taotie mask ringed with blue curls, the teeth are bared in a ferocious snarl and the aubergine forehead bears the character 'wang' in gilding. The cistern is painted with three ladies and a child standing on the balustraded terrace of a small pavilion, with a blue-robed figue looking on from the garden of a larger green building in the background; all amongst large vases filled with chrysanthemums and scattered precious objects The foot is encircled by a green-ground zig-zag florette border and the flared neck has a broad band of beaded ruyi-heads pendent from a green and yellow trellis-diaper border infillled with red florettes. The conical cover has three domed tiers and is decorated with leaf and floral borders divided by zig-zag bands pencilled in iron-red. The white-glazed back is pierced with a hole for suspension which is masked by a moulded chrysanthemum flowerhead on the interior.

Notes

History note: According to the Cunliffe Collection Catalogue, purchased at the Kennedy Sale, Christies, 22.6.16., Lot 198.

Legal notes

Bequeathed by Leonard Daneham Cunliffe

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 23.7 cm
Height: 55.9 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1937) by Cunliffe, Leonard Daneham

Dating

Qing Dynasty
Kangxi Period (1662-1722)
Circa 1662 CE - Circa 1722 CE

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamels ( yellow, red, green, tuquoise, blue, aubergine and black) gold
Lower Body

Materials used in production

Glaze
Hard-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Glazing (coating)

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: T. 18 L.D.C.
  • Location: On the back of cover
  • Type: Label
  • Text: S.E.K. 22
  • Type: Label

Identification numbers

Accession number: OC.37 & A-1938
Primary reference Number: 77697

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Friday 13 June 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Famille verte wall cistern and cover" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/77697 Accessed: 2025-12-07 14:30:31

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/77697 |title=Famille verte wall cistern and cover |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-07 14:30:31|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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