Page 28 - Bonhams, Fine Chinese Art, London November 3, 2022

108
A RARE BLACK-GROUND ‘BOYS AND
RAMS’ BROCADE PANEL
15th/16th century
The silk satin panel finely woven with
repeating patterns of boys riding white goats
or rams, each figure elegantly dressed in fur-
trimmed red and green winter robes, carrying
a flowering prunus branch suspending a bird
cage over the shoulders, all surrounded by
camelias and the Precious Objects including
flaming pearls, coral branches, jewels, ruyi
heads, lozenges, scrolls, cash and double axe
heads, all on a black ground, mounted.
59cm (23 2/8in) long x 23.5cm (9 2/8in) wide.
£5,000 - 8,000
CNY39,000 - 63,000
十五/十六世紀 黑地童子騎羊紋錦

Provenance: Jacqueline Simcox Ltd., London
An English private collection

Published and Illustrated: Jacqueline
Simcox Ltd., Chinese Textiles and Works of
Art, London, 2005, p.23

來源：倫敦古董商Jacqueline Simcox Ltd.
英國私人收藏

107 出版著錄：Jacqueline Simcox Ltd.，
《Chinese Textiles and Works of Art》，倫
THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 敦，2005年，頁23
紳士藏品
Lots 107 - 109 Elegantly woven in black silk, the present
panel is remarkable for its vivid imagery and
107 well-preserved colour. The popular design
A RARE PAIR OF MIDNIGHT-BLUE- Finely woven with elegant designs of long- of boys riding goats is associated with the
arrival of spring, and with it, the new year,
GROUND ‘PHOENIX AND LOTUS’ tailed phoenixes, ascending and descending Winter Solstice, conveyed by the character
BROCADE PANELS amidst a profusion of blossoming lotus
15th century designs, the present panels are rare and yang for ram being a homonym for sun,
Cut from a length of silk brocade, both finely elegant examples dating to the early Ming which also represents the male principle thus
woven with continuous designs of flying period. They would have have been cut investing the word with connotations of new
phoenixes with tasselled tails and wings from a large bolt of silk which would have life and fertility. The Winter Solstice marked
been employed to fashion sumptuous door
outstretched amidst a profusion of lotus or wall hangings, curtains, or even covers the rebirth of the sun and the beginning of the
flowers depicted in different blooming stages, for high-backed chairs, which would have yang (male) half of the year, and the prunus
issuing from leafy vines and curling stems, probably graced one of the Imperial halls of and camellia flowers, some of the first Spring
the designs picked out in vibrant threads of the Forbidden City destined for use by the blossoms, herald the end of winter.
coral red on a deep-midnight-blue ground, Empress.
mounted. Compare with a very similar ‘boys and goats’
163cm (64 1/8in) long x 67cm (26 2/8in) wide. It is possible that these panels date to the silk panel, 15th/16th century, illustrated by
(2). Yongle period. Stylistically, their intricate Feng Zhao, Treasures in silk, Hong Kong,
designs of phoenix and lotus closely compare 1999, no.08.09.
£8,000 - 12,000 with the same subjects depicted on two
cinnabar lacquer carved bowls, Yongle
CNY63,000 - 94,000 marks and period, illustrated respectively
in The Complete Collection of Treasures of
十五世紀 藏藍地鳳穿蓮花紋錦一對 the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the
Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Hong Kong, 2006,
Provenance: Christie’s Hong Kong, p.44, no.27, and by J.Watt and B.Ford, The
1 December 2009, lot 1983 Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, New
An English private collection York, 1991, p.87, no.28.
Compare with a related red-silk-ground panel
來源：香港佳士得，2009年12月1日， decorated with gold thread designs of phoenix
拍品編號1983 and lotus blossoms, Ming dynasty, in the Qing
英國私人收藏 Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete
Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum.
Textiles and Embroideries of the Ming and
Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 2005, p.111,
no.128.
For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
26 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.