Kundika

Height 22.5 cm Globular corpus standing on a raised foot. High, narrow neck with a counter and narrow spout. A small shaped pouring spout on the side of the body. Glazed in a light white-yellow glaze that covers the body unevenly down to the base where the goods are visible. Kundika is Sanskrit for "bottle of clean water", and was used by Buddhists during ritual hand washing. The actual shape of the bottle is based on Indian prototypes and metal bottles that were usually used in rituals. The pouring spout on the side originally had a hinged lid or stopper, and this is where the liquid was poured into the bottle, then poured out of the large spout at the top. PROVENANCE From Tove and Karl Emil Strømstad's collection. Strømstad has one of Norway's largest and most exciting collections of Chinese ceramics. The couple began collecting in the early 1970s after purchasing their first Chinese antique, an 18th-century famille rose bowl. The collection they built up spans from the Han to the Qing dynasties, and comes from auction houses, antique dealers and markets from various parts of the world. Karl Emil has written a number of articles on the subject and is an honorary member of the Norwegian Society for Oriental Ceramics (NSOK - orientalskkeramikk.com), which he also helped to found in 1993. Dogny Auction, Switzerland, March 2019 167004