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A BLUE AND WHITE SUGAR CASTER AND COVER Kangxi (2) image 1
A BLUE AND WHITE SUGAR CASTER AND COVER Kangxi (2) image 2
Lot 590

A BLUE AND WHITE SUGAR CASTER AND COVER
Kangxi

A Life in Ceramics: The Peter and Mary White Collection of Chinese Art
31 October – 10 November 2025, 10:00 GMT
Online, London, New Bond Street

Sold for £4,096 inc. premium

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A BLUE AND WHITE SUGAR CASTER AND COVER

Kangxi
Of cylindrical form rising from a spreading, stepped foot, the domed cover with pierced floral openwork and fixed with later metal screw lock, surmounted by a a floral-bud finial, decorated around the exterior with two identical scenes of a scholar followed by an attendant carrying a guqin, all within a mountain landscape by a lake. 16.5cm (6 1/2in) high. (2).

Footnotes

Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價

清康熙 青花糖罐

Provenance: acquired from Bobby (Elizabeth) Hand, Petworth, in 1990 (collector's notes)

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: The Oriental Ceramic Society, The World in Blue and White, London, 2003, no.21
The Oriental Ceramic Society, China Without Dragons: Rare Pieces from Oriental Ceramics Society Members, London, 2016, pp.258-259, no.155
M.White, Eating at the Whites' House: Ceramics from the Mary and Peter White collection, vol.3, n.p., 2022, p.441

來源：獲得於Bobby (Elizabeth) Hand，佩特沃思，1990年（藏家筆記）

展覽著錄：東方陶瓷學會，《The World in Blue and White》，倫敦，2003年，編號21
東方陶瓷學會，《龍隱：東方陶瓷學會會員稀珍藏品展》，倫敦，2016年，第258-259頁，編號155
M.White，《Eating at the Whites' House: Ceramics from the Mary and Peter White collection》，第三冊，無出版地，2022年，第441頁

By the late 17th century, sugar had become a highly prized luxury in Europe, imported in growing quantities from the West Indies. It was customarily presented in ornate silver containers, a fashion that soon inspired imitations in both porcelain and tin-glazed earthenware. The present vessel closely follows the form of contemporary Dutch or English silver sugar boxes, a design also echoed by Delft and Rouen potters in faience.

Originally, the domed cover would have been secured with a bayonet fitting, but in this example, a Western-added metal screw lock has been applied, likely to ensure continued practical use. Such containers were increasingly commissioned in matching sets, and while primarily intended for sugar, they may also have been used for salt, pepper, or other fine spices. A closely related pair in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, features similar knops which were once decorated with red lacquer and traces of gilding, suggesting a shared visual language between metalwork and high-status export porcelain.

See a similar blue and white sugar caster, 1690-1715, in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (acc.no.C.773&A-1910). See a further blue and white sugar caster, Kangxi, circa 1700, illustrated by B.Macguire, Four Centuries of Blue and White: The Frelinghuysen Collection of Chinese and Japanese Export Porcelain, London, 2023, p.158, no.124.

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