Live Auction 3017European Noble and Private Collections
A Chinese late Ming blue and white 'elephant' kendi
Lot 496 VARIOUS PROPERTIES

A Chinese late Ming blue and white 'elephant' kendi

WANLI PERIOD (1573-1619)

Closed13 December 2012

Price Realised

EUR 15,000

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A Chinese late Ming blue and white 'elephant' kendi
Wanli period (1573-1619)
Modelled standing, its head thrust into the air, the tusks forming a double spout, a tall cylindrical vase rising from a ruyi band on its back forming the handle decorated with a flower-branch, the saddle blanket decorated with a geometric pattern and a flower
18 cm. high

Specialist note

Similar elephant-shaped kendis are in the Topkapi Saray Museum collection. See further R. Krahl, Chinese ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum Istanbul. A complete catalogue, Vol. II, London, 1986, pp. 729-730.
Other elephant kendis were recovered from the 'Witte Leeuw' cargo (1613) belonging to the Dutch East India Company. See further C. L. van der Pijl-Ketel, The ceramic load of the Witte Leeuw, Amsterdam, 1982, pp. 132-133.
Other examples were sold at Christie's New York, 23 January 2008, lot 234; Christie's New York, 21 January 2009, lot 165; Christie's New York, 24 March 2004, lot 179.