The teapot is decorated in the famille verte palette, with flower sprigs done in underglaze blue iron red and green enamels. The spout, handle and decorative pattern in relief on the body of this very unusual teapot are modeled as ropes, painted in aubergine enamels.
An identical teapot (with a Dutch gilt silver mounts) is the collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels. It is published by Pr. Christiaan Jörg in Chinese de Commande from the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels, 1989, Urban Council, Hong Kong, no. 3, p. 52-53.
This teapot is also published by Lunsingh Scheurleer in Chinesisches und japanisches Porzellan in europäischen Fassungen, 1980, p. 277.
Another example is published by Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni in A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-Era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection,Jieruitang Publishing, 2017, p. 241, no. 111.
Chinese artisans have employed “twisted rope” strap work as a decorative strategy on vessels since the Warring States period. The maker of this teapot combined modeling techniques with carefully painted enamels for a “tromp l’oeil” corded effect, and further embellished the vessel with blossoming sprigs in the famille verte palette.
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