A rare incised white-glazed monk's cap ewer, sengmao hu China, MIng Dynasty, Yongle Period

the finely potted compressed globular body delicately incised with an undulating lotus stem bearing eight blooms, each supporting one of the ba jixiang, above double line borders and a band of lappets, each enclosing a lingzhi sprig, the broad slightly flared cylindrical neck further incised with lotus scroll, beneath the stepped galleried rim of 'monk's cap' outline, incised with lotus scroll on the exterior and lingzhi  scroll on the interior, a small lug set opposite the deep channelled spout engraved with vertical lingzhi bands, the wide strap similarly engraved with a lingzhi band, and with a ruyi-shaped tab on the top, all supported on a low slightly splayed footrim, applied overall with a tianbai white glaze

Yongle monk's cap ewers with similar incised designs are in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collections, vol. 5, Tokyo, 1981, pl.151; in the Percival David Foundation, London, ibid., vol. 6, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 50; and in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, from the collection of H.M. King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, ibid., vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, pl. 207. A plain ewer of this shape, from the Qing court collection is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 100.

A fragmentary ewer of this type, carved with floral scrolls but lacking the bajixiang, excavated from the waste heaps of the Ming imperial kilns, was included in the exhibition Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1996, cat.no. 99, where it is stated that ewers of this type were probably made on the occasion of the visit of the Tibetan religious leader Halima to the capital Nanjing, where he was bestowed by the Yongle emperor with the title Dabao Fawang (Great Precious Religious Ruler).

A similar ewer was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 15th May 1990, lot 38, and another, 14th November 1983, lot 111.