A FINE PAINTED ENAMEL SHELL-FORM BASIN AND EWER18th century The ewer raised on a domed base, the stem terminating in a conch shell, supporting the helmet form ewer, the basin of scallop shell form with fluted panels, resting on three feet, all brightly decorated with dense floral designs and foliate scrollwork on polychrome grounds. The ewer: 28.5cm (11 1/4in) high (2). A very similar enamel ewer and basin from the J.A. Lloyd Hyde Collection is illustrated in the Chinese Painted Enamels, The China Institute in America, 1969/70, Exhibition Catalogue, no. 8 where it is suggested that this shape is copying 17th century Portuguese silver . Also see Howard and Ayers, China for the West, pl. 125, for an example of this shape in porcelain, dated 1720-1725 in the Mottahedeh collection.