The purified water vessel derives from
early forms. Tang examples in whiteglazed ceramics and bronze are well known (see no.11). Although Tibetan Buddhism was to introduce a new repertory of implements in religious ritual, the purified water vessel retained its place.

Only two other early Ming cloisonné enamel kundikas are recorded; one of very similar style from the Kitson and Sir Harry Garner Collections, now in the British Museum, published by the latter, Chinese and Japanese Cloisonné Enamels, pl. 16; the other sold at Sotheby’s London, 7 June 1994, lot 63. For a Qianlong-marked example of the 18th Century, see Monarchy and its Buddhist Way, 1999, National Palace Museum, Taipei, exhibition catalogue, no. 93; the gold, turquoise encrusted example in the same catalogue, op. cit., no. 92 is an interesting contrast in its style of decoration.