Rare “blue and white” porcelain candlestick from the Xuande period

Rare “blue and white” porcelain candlestick, Xuande period “blue and white” porcelain candlestick, Jingdezhen, Xuande mark and reign (1425-1435)

Height: 29 cm
Diameter: 23 cm

Significant damage and restoration.

A true symbol of the interactions between the Chinese and Islamic worlds, this candlestick is a rare example of a “blue and white” porcelain object of this form. It is part of a group of porcelains produced in the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen during the reigns of Yongle (1402-1424) and Xuande (1425-1435), based on models from the Iranian and Mamluk worlds. Although Islamic in form, the rare Chinese examples show a decoration that draws its sources from the Chinese repertoire, with compositions of flowers and foliage painted in deep, brilliant cobalt blue, characteristic of the first two reigns of the 15th century. The decoration, structured in horizontal registers, features stylized ruyi heads on the upper neck and lotus panels with the same motif. On the lower part, two floral scrolls share the space. The main body of the object is divided into eight vertical panels following the facets of the surface, framed at the top and bottom by thin zig-zag bands. On the first is the cartouche with the reign mark, written from right to left: Da Ming Xuande nianzhi 大明宣德年制. Each of the panels bears a floral decoration hemmed by scrolls, very similar to the decoration present on other “blue and white” imperial porcelains of this period. Each composition of peonies, lotuses, chrysanthemums and camellias appears twice on opposite facets. Around the central stick, two concentric bands frame a lotus and chrysanthemum design, as well as a wave design on a scrolling background.
While examples of Chinese porcelain date from the first half of the 15th century, often considered one of the golden ages of Ming porcelain, the Islamic models on which they are based generally date from the 13th and 14th centuries. These are metal objects with smooth or faceted walls: in porcelain, it was only the faceted version that was imitated in the early 15th century. Of the many Islamic prototypes that Chinese potters may have drawn inspiration from, the closest are an example in the Victoria & Albert Museum (dated mid-13th century and from western Iran)1 , a piece in the David Collection in Copenhagen (inv. 27/1972) and a candlestick in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The latter (Fig. 1) has the same shape, although the facets are nine instead of eight and grow into each other. Much rarer are reproductions in jade, such as the Art Institute of Chicago’s small (H.: 9.4 cm) candlestick (Fig. 2), attributed to 15th-century Iranian production, which features smooth walls2. During the same period, the Iranian world also produced “blue and white” ceramic candlesticks, inspired in turn by Chinese porcelain decoration. Two examples of this type are known: a candlestick discovered in Kazakhstan bearing a stylized dragon design3 and the fragment of a candlestick from Samarkand4 now on display at the Amir Timur Museum in Tashkent (Fig. 3). The latter is decorated with waves and lotus scrolls around the central stick, strongly reminiscent of the motifs on the Xuande-period candlestick shown here.
Candlesticks often appear in Persian manuscript paintings, where they are painted gold or yellow, suggesting that the material the painter intended to represent was metal. The Chinese version, on the other hand, does not appear in any Islamic paintings. This absence coincides with the lack of archaeological finds of porcelain candlesticks from the reigns of Yongle and Xuande in the Islamic world, an absence also reflected in the collections of the Shahs of Iran at the Ardebil Shrine and of the Ottoman Sultans at Istanbul’s Topkapı Palace. Although these two famous collections include 15th-century porcelain imitating Islamic metal forms, such as flat gourds and straight-sided ewers, the candlestick is not one of them. Porcelain candlesticks from this period are found in Chinese collections, with the exception of one piece in the William Fehr collection in Cape Town, South Africa 5 and the one presented in this sale. The Xuande mark, rare on these pieces, appears on a candlestick discovered in fragments in 1982 at Zhushan, the main site of the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen (Fig. 4) 6. Its decoration is very similar to the example presented at this auction. Other similar examples, unmarked and attributed to the Yongle and Xuande reigns, are preserved at the Palace Museum in Beijing (Fig. 5)7 , the Shanghai Museum and the Guangdong Museum8. An example with a white monochrome cover (Fig. 6)9 , which was found in fragments on the Zhushan site, is at the Jingdezhen Archaeological Institute.
While in the Islamic world this object was intended to hold candles, in China, where other lighting supports existed10 , its original function could be transformed: for example, one of the candlesticks in the Shanghai museum has a metal insert to house incense sticks. It seems, therefore, that Chinese candlesticks imitating this Islamic form were not, in fact, objects produced for the Middle East, but were probably intended for the Chinese elite, perhaps to adorn the halls of the imperial palace in Beijing. These are therefore exceptional objects, bearing witness to Sino-Iranian exchanges during one of the golden ages of Chinese porcelain.

Text by Valentina Bruccoleri

Notes:

1 Assadullah Souren Melikian-Chirvani, Islamic Metalwork from the Iranian World, 8-18th centuries, London, HMSO, 1982, pp. 167, 177.

2 Yuka Kadoi, “The Road from China to Iran: a Jade Candlestick in the Art Institute of Chicago”, Iran, 2009, vol. 47, p. 123-131.

3 Lisa Golombek, Robert B. Mason and Gauvin A. Bailey Tamerlane’s Tableware: A New Approach to the Chinoiserie Ceramic of Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Iran, Costa Mesa (California), Mazda Publishers, 1996, pl. 61.

4 Ibid. p. 185.

5 Exchange of letters between Feng Xianming and E.J. Paap, published in Orientations, 1988, p. 421.

6 Imperial Porcelain from the Reign of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty, exhibition catalog, Beijing, Palace Museum, 2015, p. 97.

7 Imperial Porcelain from the Reigns of Hongwu and Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, exhibition catalog, Beijing, Palace Museum, 2015, pp. 236-239.

8 See note 5.

9 Ibid, p. 240-241.

10 Kadoi, 2009, p. 127.

11 Ming: 50 Years that Changed China, exhibition catalog, London, British Museum, 2014, p. 94.

Parallels and comparisons:

Fig. 1
Brass candlestick, Iran, 1300-1350, 23.7 x 21.2 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (91.1.580)

Fig. 2
Jade candlestick, Iran, 15th century, 9.4 x 7 cm, Art Institute of Chicago (1950.973)

Fig. 3
Fragment of a “blue and white” ceramic candlestick, Iran, 15th century, Amir Timur Museum, Tashkent

Fig. 4
Porcelain candlestick with blue underglaze decoration, Jingdezhen, Xuande mark and reign (1425-1435), 27 x 20.7 cm, Jingdezhen Archaeological Institute

Fig. 5
Porcelain candlestick with blue underglaze decoration, Jingdezhen, Yongle reign (1402-1424), Palace Museum, Beijing

Fig. 6
Porcelain candlestick with white monochrome glaze, Jingdezhen, reign of Yongle (1402-1424), 29 x 22.2 cm, Jingdezhen Archaeological Institute