A RARE TIBETAN-STYLE GILT AND BLACK LACQUER EWER AND COVER, DUOMUHU

18TH CENTURY

The tall cylindrical body set with a slender spout to one side, with four raised bands and mounts suspending chains to form the handle, decorated in gold lacquer on a black ground with many roundels formed as blossoming branches, the flowers including orchids, chrysanthemums, lotus and prunus, the cover surmounted by a finial shaped as a crouching lion dog, 47.7cm. (2)

Provenance: from the collection of the late Hubert René Joseph Georges Faure (1919-2020). Hubert Faure was the first husband of Elizabeth (Bessie) de Cuevas, who married when she was nineteen. Bessie was the daughter of Margaret Rockefeller, granddaughter of John D Rockefeller.

This form of ewer is known in Chinese as a duomuhu and it is derived from the Tibetan bey lep. Bey lep literally translates as 'container for butter', but these vessels were also used to store milk, wine and milk tea in Lamaist monasteries. The shape is believed to have first appeared in China during the Yuan dynasty and, after little use in the Ming dynasty, was revived under the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722) during the Qing dynasty. His interest in Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism led to the resurgence of the duomuhu form, notably in metalwork and porcelain.

Cf. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, p.182, no.135 for a comparable gold and purple lacquer duomuhu in the Qing Court Collection; see also pp.152-153, no.111 for a Qianlong period twin-dish decorated with comparable floral medallions in gold on a black lacquer ground.