A Chinese Blue And White Conch-shaped Water Dropper, Ming Dynasty Wanli period

A very rare Chinese blue and white conch-shaped water dropper.
Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573–1619).

The water dropper is cleverly shaped in the form of a conch, with two holes at the front and top. The surface is decorated with underglaze blue and white floral motifs, the bottom is left unglazed.

Length 12 cm, height 4.8 cm.

Provenance:
Acquired from Auktionshaus Dr. Fritz Nagel, Stuttgart, 15 November 1997, lot 1613 (by repute)
Property from a distinguished private collection, New York

Ref:
Water droppers in the shape of a conch from the Wanli period are very rare, and we have not been able to identify another example.
A blue and white water dropper from the same period in the form of an eggplant is in the Sir Percival David Collection, British Museum, London (inv. no. PDF,B.694).
For a peach-shaped water dropper, see Jingdezhen to the World, The Lurie Collection of Chinese Export Porcelain from the Late Ming Dynasty (Teresa Canepa, 2019), pp. 148–149, no. 46.

Condition:
Typical mushikui fritting, with some glaze pits and tension lines originating from the kiln.

Worldwide registered and insured shipping.

Inv. No: MW408