Page 198 - Bonhams, Roger Keverne Moving on Part 1 May 11, 2021 London

305
A RARE AND LARGE PAINTED ENAMEL ‘LOTUS DRINKER’
DISH
Yongzheng
The dish supported on a waisted foot, with shallow rounded sides
terminating in a broad flange, finely decorated with a garden scene
depicting an elegant Court lady sitting on a mat, resting her back on a
pile of books and her elbow on a large cushion, drinking through the
stem of a large lotus leaf held by a female attendant, surrounded by
three further attendants holding a ewer, cups and trays, all surrounded
by a black and gilt floral border, the rim with four shaped cartouches
enclosing fruits and flowers, the reverse with three floral sprays
surrounding a large cluster of fruits and flowers at the base.
36.5cm (14 3/8in) diam.
£4,000 - 6,000
CNY36,000 - 54,000

Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價

清雍正 銅胎畫琺瑯碧筒縱飲圖盤

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Roger Keverne Ltd., Winter
Exhibition, London, 2007, no.56.
305
展覽著錄：Roger Keverne Ltd.，《冬季展覽》，倫敦，2007年，
編號56

The present lot is unusual for its humorous depiction of a lady drinking
copious amounts of wine from the stem of a lotus, encouraged by
those around her in revelry. Indeed, in a society where women were
largely kept behind closed quarters, this would have been rather
scandalous. The present dish therefore, may be depicting a drinking
contest with courtesans. One of the most important locations where
courtesans made their mark as talented and amusing companions
was in the setting of gardens; in these beautiful, rustic, and artistic
sites people congregated to enjoy leisure pursuits in the open air.
Here courtesans met their patrons to enjoy intense cultural exchanges
on poetry, singing and drinking. See H.T.Zurndorfer, ‘Prostitutes and
Courtesans in the Confucian Moral Universe of Late Ming China (1550-
1644)’, in International Review of Social History, vol.56, 21 November
2011, pp.197-216.

See a related painted enamel basin, with designs of ladies, Qing
306 dynasty, illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace
Museum: Enamels, 5, Beijing, 2011, no.279.

306
A PAIR OF PAINTED ENAMEL ‘ROMANCE OF THE WESTERN
CHAMBER’ DISHES
18th century
Each painted with a scene from the Xi Xiang Ji (The Romance of the
Western Chamber), one depicting Cui Yingying listening to Zhang
Sheng playing the qin, the other with the figures in a pavilion garden,
the undersides with fruiting vines and blossoming stems, the bases
with clusters of fruit and flower sprays. 16cm (6.1/4in) diam. (2).

£1,000 - 1,500
CNY9,000 - 14,000
Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價

十八世紀 銅胎畫琺瑯「西廂記」圖盤一對

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Roger Keverne Ltd., Summer
Exhibition, London, 2006, no.63.

展覽著錄：Roger Keverne Ltd.，《夏季展覽》，倫敦，2006年，
編號63

See a similar painted enamel dish, Qianlong, showing Cui admonishing
307 Hongniang, illustrated by M.Gillingham, Chinese Painted Enamels,
Oxford, 1978, p.45, no.48.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
196 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.