Page 104 - Christie's Hong Kong November 29, 2022 Fine Chinese Works of Art

A BEAUTIFUL XUANDE BLUE

AND WHITE ‘FRUIT’ BOWL

ROSEMARY SCOTT, INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR

In the Guang Zhiyi (Gazetteer of Guangdong) the Ming dynasty writer National Palace Museum Taipei’s 1998 exhibition Special Exhibition of
Wang Shixing (1546-1598) expressed the opinion that: ‘Xuande and Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelain of the Ming Dynasty (see catalogue,
Chenghua porcelains are the best in our dynasty, and the best of the op. cit., pp. 138-153, nos. 42-49). While each of these exhibited bowls
Xuande porcelain is the qinghua [underglaze blue] …’ (see Catalogue of bears a different design as the main decorative band around the exterior
the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming walls, all of them have a lotus petal band just above the foot, and all
Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, pp. 9 and 41). The bear a six-character Xuande mark written horizontally and unframed
current large Xuande ‘fruit’ bowl is a vessel which encapsulates the just below the mouth rim. These features can also be seen on the
features which led to this opinion being shared by the majority of current bowl. One of the National Palace Museum bowls bears the
connoisseurs both during and since the Ming dynasty. same fruit spray decoration as the current bowl, as well as the same
flower sprays around the foot (see catalogue, op. cit., pp. 148-9, no.
The bowl is of an almost hemispherical shape and features thickly 47)(fig. 1). Bowls of this form are to be found in several important
potted sides. Their thick sides made them heavier and thus more stable, international collections, while a sherd from a bowl of this type, found
and such bowls have been described as both dice bowls and cricket at the site of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, has been published by
bowls. The name often given to them in Chinese is simply descriptive Lu Minghua in Shanghai Bowuguan zangpin yanjiu: Mingdai guanyao ciqi,
– woshiwan – nest-shaped bowls. While bowls of similar hemispherical Shanghai, 2007, pl. 3-121.
form had been made in the Hongwu and Yongle reigns, these generally
had thinner sides. Indeed, one of the important developments seen in The current bowl also shares with the National Palace Museum
imperial Xuande porcelains was the potters’ ability to produce finely- bowls very finely-prepared clay body material, providing an excellent
potted thick-bodied vessels as well as those with thin bodies. The background for decoration in rich cobalt blue. The bowl is a notable
throwing of thick-bodied wares required an even greater degree of example of the vibrant painting style for which the finest Xuande
skill, since unless their sides were of a precisely even thickness overall, porcelains are acclaimed. The deep blue, with characteristic ‘heaped
the vessels would have been likely to distort and crack in the firing. and piled’ effect, and perfect placement of each decorative element are
enhanced by confident and skilful brush strokes. The combination of
This form appears to have found considerable favour with the Xuande the best quality raw materials, prepared to the highest standards, the
emperor, who was an enthusiastic patron of the arts, including porcelain. most skilled potters and the most talented ceramic artists rendered
Eight blue and white Xuande bowls of this shape were included in the vessels such as this bowl masterpieces of blue and white porcelain.

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