FINE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART
The Elegance of Porcelain
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An
important Chantilly Kakiemon Teapot and Cover, of compressed
globular form, with faceted spout and crabstock handle issuing
applied brightly coloured flowering prunus in raised relief,
decorated in the Kakiemon palette with the ‘Two Quail’ pattern
showing a blue quail and a red quail standing in a Chinese garden
with flowering oriental plants, the slightly domed cover with
flower finial.
Circa
1735-40
Provenance:
Elizabeth Parke Firestone Collection and Private English Collection.
Illustrated Dr. Chris Girton, ‘The Two Quail Pattern, 300 years of
design on porcelain’, no. 23.
The
quail bird first appears in Chinese art painted on scrolls in the Song
Dynasty of the 12th century. The Chinese regarded them highly and carried
them around in fabric bags that hung from their waist. From time to time
the owner would get it out of the bag and blow on it to arouse its
fierceness. The Quail is a fierce courageous little bird, however the word
quail in Chinese is pronounced ‘an’ a homophone for peace. The symbol
of the two quails together is ‘shuang an’ thus double peace or a
loving couple. Hence the pattern proved popular as a symbol of
marriage
and contentment and proceeded to travel throughout Europe and was used at