The globular body rising from a short foot to a broad mouth, set with a slender S-shaped spout and a square loop handle with rounded corners, the domed cover surmounted by a knop finial, painted in vibrant underglaze cobalt blue in the traditional kraak manner with dark outlines and shaded washes, the body divided into shaped panels enclosing figures in a garden landscape alternating with large flowering plants, the shoulder and cover with further decorative borders of geometric and scroll motifs.

While many kraak wine pots are decorated exclusively with floral motifs, the present example is distinguished by the inclusion of figures within the principal reserves. Such examples are comparatively uncommon and belong to a smaller group painted in the more traditional late Ming style, employing strong cobalt outlines filled with graduated washes of colour.

The original function of these vessels remains a subject of discussion. In China they were most likely intended for serving warmed rice wine, although they may also have been used for hot water in the preparation of powdered tea. Their purpose in Europe is less certain. Tea was only introduced to Europe in very limited quantities during the early seventeenth century and did not become widely consumed until much later. It is therefore possible that such vessels served a primarily decorative role in European interiors. Nevertheless, documentary evidence from the archives of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) records substantial imports of wine pots, suggesting that they were both appreciated and regularly traded throughout the seventeenth century.

此壺圓腹，下承矮圈足，口部寬闊。一側置細長S形流，另一側設四角圓轉的方形環柄。圓拱形蓋上置寶珠鈕。通體以鮮豔青花繪飾，採用典型克拉克瓷的畫法，以濃重線條勾勒輪廓，再以濃淡分水填染。器腹分設如意形開光，內繪園林人物與折枝花卉，彼此相間，肩部及壺蓋另飾幾何紋與卷草紋邊飾。

克拉克式酒壺多僅以花卉為飾，此壺則於主要開光內繪人物，較為少見。此類器物數量不多，畫風較接近明末傳統青花瓷，以濃重鈷藍勾線，再以不同深淺的青料渲染，層次鮮明。

此類器物的原有用途至今仍有不同看法。在中國，最可能用於盛放溫熱的米酒，也可能在點茶時用來盛熱水。至於輸入歐洲後的實際用途則較難確定。茶葉在十七世紀初才以極少數量傳入歐洲，直至較晚才逐漸普及，因此這類壺在歐洲室內或主要作陳設之用。不過，荷蘭東印度公司檔案記載了大量酒壺的輸入，說明此類器物在十七世紀頗受歡迎，亦是當時持續交易的重要外銷瓷品種。

Literature:

• Maura Rinaldi, 'Kraak Porcelain: A Moment in the History of Trade', pp. 182-184 for a further discussion and pl. 237 for an identical example.

• J. Ayers, R. Krahl, 'Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul. Yuan and Ming Dynasty Porcelains', vol. II, p. 757, no. 1401, for an identical example.