Home > The Princessehof collection of Asian ceramics > Chinese and Japanese trade ceramics > 8. Chinese and Japanese kendis
Home > The Princessehof collection of Asian ceramics > Chinese and Japanese trade ceramics > 8. Chinese and Japanese kendis
The kendi is a pouring vessel without a handle. It has a bulbous body, a long neck which serves to fill and to hold it and a spout for pouring or drinking.
The shape is probably derived from the earthenware Indian Kundika, a vessel brought to southeast Asia in the 9th and 10th centuries along with Hinduism and Buddhism. It was copied locally and evolved during the late 15th to early 16th century into the shape it has now. Earthenware kendis are still being produced. However, from the late 16th century the need for a more durable and sophisticated material arose. To meet the demand in southeast Asia, porcelain kendis were made in Jingdezhen, while Fujian and Guandong produced stoneware and porcelain ones. From the 1660s, when Chinese kendis became unavailable in the turbulent times marking the transition from the Ming to the Qing dynasty, production of kendis started in Arita, continuing there until about 1700. Kendis were apparently only made for export, they were not used in China or Japan.
In southeast Asia locally made earthenware kendis were mostly household objects, used for drinking. Imported stoneware and porcelain kendis were looked upon as prestigious possessions. They were regarded as pusaka, holy heirlooms, and displayed and used in ceremonial or magical rituals. Although they were primarily destined for the inter-Asiatic market, a number of Chinese and Japanese kendis were sent to Holland. They were listed in VOC records as gorgolets, an interpretation of the name gorgoletta given to them by the Portuguese.
In Holland Chinese kendis can be found on Dutch 17th century paintings, sometimes even filled with flowers. Because of their decorative and exotic appearance they were put on display and probably served as conversation pieces. In the early 18th century their popularity diminished in the West. The form of the body is round, globular or compressed globular. On Chinese stoneware ribbing of the body can be found. Ribbing is frequently seen on Japanese kendis. In Chinese early 17th century porcelain kendis the body is usually moulded into panels.
On early 16th century Chinese examples the spout is bag-shaped. In the course of the century the spout became mammiform with a narrow aperture. Disk-shaped spouts were popular in the middle of the 17th century while a bulbous form is often seen from c.1680. Japanese kendis have a bulbous or a mammiform spout, the latter tapering towards the base.
The neck or filler is either cylindrical or flared. Chinese examples have a flanged rim, mushroom-shaped rims appear in the last decades of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). An overturned rim is a characteristic of Japanese kendis, although it is sometimes found on Chinese examples as well. Kendis were also made in the form of animals or birds. They can be shaped like elephants, toads, various birds or mythological animals like the dragon or the phoenix.
Chinese kendis are decorated in Kraak-style with panels, flower sprays, birds, emblems and diapers or in transitional style with continuous landscapes. Japanese kendis follow the same styles but typically show spontaneous decoration, rendered in a sketchy manner. A very simplified form of the well known tulip motif can be found on the neck.
The Princessehof collection of porcelain kendis is the largest known in the West.
