BF57
Further images
The pierced oval body raised on a slightly flaring foot, the flared mouth rim set with an arched overhead handle with two adjoining arches to the rim at either side, decorated in underglaze blue, the upper section of the body painted with a band of bamboo between single lines in underglaze blue, the handle with stripe-work, the foot with triangle-work set below a single blue line, the base with an Artemisia leaf in underglaze blue.
Literature
This basket is an example of 'reticulated' porcelain, which is characterised by intricate cuts creating a pierced pattern. The Jesuit missionary Père Francois Xavier d`Entrecolles (1664-1741) used the term reticulated in the 18th century to describe porcelain that had the appearance of a net. An alternative term for this type of porcelain is 'Devils Work', or Guigong. The Chinese term 'Linglong' is also used.
Further examples of reticulated porcelain are illustrated in Maria Antonia Pinto de Matos, 'The RA Collection of Chinese Ceramic': pl. 120, 121, and122.
