A RARE JAPANESE PORCELAIN 'MONTGOLFIER BALLOON' EWER.

Meiji period, 19th Century.

Well-modelled as a spherical hot-air balloon painted with balls in the famille rose palette, suspending a gondola moulded with geometric patterns, the extended prow forming the spout, the stern acting as the handle, 25cm H.

A similar Japanese ewer painted with a map of Japan is in the collection of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.

The piece is an echo of the late 18th Century Dehua model of the Montgolfier balloon, see Donnelly, 'Blanc-de-Chine', plate 128 for an example of the Chinese original.

Brothers Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (1740 – 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (1745 – 1799) are best known for launching the first confirmed piloted ascent by man in June 1783 in Annonay in a hot air balloon of their own making. The news of the feat spread across the globe and a model of the flying vessel was produced in the Dehua kilns in China.