A Chinese powder blue teapot with a Xiezhi. Kangxi (1662-1722) with silver mounting (French, 1722/1726)

Modelled in a shape of a barrel, with a band of raised dots around the upper and lower sections, a curved handle on one side and a right spout on the other side, standing on a straight foot ring, and a flat cover with a finial in the shape of a buddhist lion. On either side is a rectangular panel with chamfered corners, reserved in white with a design in iron-red depicting a Xiezhi in a garden. Apart from the panels, the teapot and cover are painted in underglaze powder blue, with silver mounting with 18th century discharge mark (stamped with Holy Spirit, Paris, 1722-1726).

Provenance

French private collection

Related works

An identical teapot is in the collection of Blenheim Palace (UK).

Notice

This particular blue ground is known in Chinese as “chuiqing”, or “blown blue”, in French as “bleu poudré” or “bleu soufflé” and in English as “powder blue”.

The Xiezhi is a mythical creature of Chinese origin. It resembles an ox or goat, with a single long horn on its forehead. It has great intellect and understands human speech. According to legend, the xiezhi, was a single-horned sheep or goat, which had power to divine the guilt or innocence of a person. Mentions of the xiezhi in Chinese literature can be traced back to the Han dynasty. The Censorate of the Ming and Qing dynasties, who were responsible for the monitoring of the civil service, wore the xiezhi as a badge of office.

With regards to other possible mythical beast contenders, the following points were all raised during the research into ours:

• –  It lacks the horns and hooves that would be associated with a Qilin typically, and instead has a single horn.
• –  It lacks the wings that you’d expect to see on a Pixiu.
• –  It lacks the all over fur you’d expect to see on a “Lion or Foo dog”and instead has scales as well as a flaming back