The body of this pomegranate-shaped teapot has been moulded in two parts and then combined. The handle and lid have been modelled as both a branch and leaf – beginning at the handle, continuing onto the body and then connecting at the lid. The foot is in the shape of a six-pointed star. Height 12 cm.
The Avalon Collection. This collection, which in the main focuses on the Interregnum and Kangxi periods
has been both carefully and sensitively formed over the last twenty-five years. The collector, a member of the English Oriental Ceramic Society, has assembled the collection with an eye for provenance whilst purchasing from old European collections, well-established antique dealers and at auction. Academically, the pieces have been well researched both in terms of their symbolism and narrative themes. In many instances the imagery on the pieces has been referenced to episodes in the romantic and historic novels of Chinese mythology, which were used extensively in the decoration of seventeenth century Chinese porcelain. Purchased Guest & Gray, London, June 2006.