Page 89 - Le Cong Tang Collection HK Nov 27 2017
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A XUANDE YELLOW-ENAMELLED INVERTED BELL-
SHAPED BOWL
Lü Chenglong, Palace Museum, Beijing
fig. 1 Collection of The Jingdezhen Institute of Ceramic Technology
圖一 景德鎮市陶瓷考古研究所藏品
The bowl is of an inverted bell-shaped form, measuring 15.2 Xuande yellow-enamelled wares that have been passed
cm. diam. (mouth), with gently flared rims rising from deep down are remarkably rare. Yellow-enamelled sherds
curved walls and raised on a foot ring. The exterior and unearthed from the Xuande strata at the imperial kilns
interior are covered in a yellow enamel. The base is incised at Jingdezhen since the 1980s have enriched the public’s
under a transparent glaze with a Xuande six-character reign understanding of this type of wares. Among those which
mark within a double circle. have been unearthed is an unmarked pear-shaped ewer
measuring 12.9 cm. high, 4 cm. diam. (mouth), 5.7 cm.
Yellow-enamelled wares made by the imperial kilns during diam. (foot), which is covered with a yellow enamel on
the Xuande reign have been passed down and excavated in the exterior, and a transparent enamel on the interior and
various forms, including deep bowls, inverted bell-shaped on the base (fig. 1); a deep bowl, measuring 7.4 cm. high,
bowls, dishes, and pear-shaped ewers. Some bear either an 13.8 cm. diam. (mouth), 7.8 cm. (foot), covered with a
underglaze-blue or incised mark, some are unmarked. For yellow enamel on both the exterior and interior, with an
an example with incised six-character reign mark within underglaze-blue six-character reign mark within a double
a double circle, see a dish in the National Palace Museum, circle under a transparent glaze on the base (fig. 2).
Taipei, measuring 4.2 cm. high, 18.5 cm. diam. (mouth), 12
cm. diam. (base). For another example with an underglaze- The present type of inverted bell-shaped bowls first
blue mark, see a dish in the National Museum of China. appeared at the imperial kilns during the Xuande period.
Both examples are covered with a yellow enamel on the The National Palace Museum, Taipei, has a nearly identical
interior and exterior with the base under a transparent glaze. example in its collection, and also an unmarked example
decorated in iron red and underglaze blue (fig. 3)
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