Teapot

The teapot is complete. It is oval in shape. In cross-section, the teapot has a domed wall, is narrowed at the top and topped by a flared neck whose rim is slightly flared at the front and straight at the back. The neck has a recessed plateau of the same shape as the body. The wall, tapering towards the base, rests on a straight foot with a flat, glaze-free base. The bottom is recessed and flat. The teapot has a vertical handle with a thin oval cross-section. Its upper end is folded down and rests on the top of the rim. Its lower part rests on the wall, before curving outwards; its end is domed. The spout is curved like a swan’s neck. Flared at its junction with the wall opposite the handle, it is tapered towards its front end; its top is inclined forward and features an oval opening whose lower part is straight and swollen. The inner wall, at its junction with the spout, features a filter made of circular holes arranged in a diamond pattern, with a central hole. A vertical mold line is visible on the front and back walls and on the handle. Numbers are painted in red under the base: 421; The decoration is molded and painted over glaze in polychrome blue, red, green, pink, black and peach. It is a Chinese figurative scene (Boy and the butterfly or Boy and the bug). It is visible under the inner rim, at the base of the neck and on the outer wall, on the handle and on the spout. The decoration below the inner rim is a wide horizontal fillet painted red. At the base of the neck, there is a double horizontal fillet painted red, adorned at the corners with a lobed tongue with pearl. The decoration on the wall is repeated on the two opposite walls. It consists of eight small terraces, spread over four registers, all made of superimposed lines in a triangle pointing downwards and painted red; three support figures, four others, stylized rocks and shrubs in the form of a black cloud, while the last supports a red-painted fence. The central figure is a man standing three-quarters to the left, wearing a blue tunic, black shoes and a headdress painted black and red. He is standing between two undergrowth terraces, one of which features branches adorned with red berries. To his right stands a woman, also seen from three-quarters to the left, dressed in a red and pink tunic and partly hidden by a long green sleeveless blouse; the woman holds a long leafy stem painted black. The terrace behind the woman supports a fence made of two angled sections with a central post, encircling a shrub and branches with red fruit. In front of the man stands a child, seen in profile to the right, dressed in a red and pink jacket and green pants; he is wearing black shoes and stretching his arms upwards towards a butterfly in flight, with blue wings. The child stands before a leaning tree trimmed with red fruit, and at his feet is a brush-covered rock. The handle is adorned with a wide central vertical fillet, a plant motif at the top and a line at the bottom, all painted red. The upper part of the handle is decorated with a row of dots, as is the spout near its opening, which also features a plant motif; all are painted red.