Page 108 - CHRISTIE'S Marchant Nine Decades of Chinese Art 09/14/17

MARCHANT: NINE DECADES IN CHINESE ART basin is a refection of the demands on a porcelain market that was
dominated by the educated elite after the fall of the Ming.
745 A LARGE FAMILLE VERTE BASIN
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722) The characters of the story are exceptionally skillfully depicted,
with Liu Kuan raising his hand in a gentle gesture of reassurance
The basin is decorated in the center with a historical scene and perhaps only mild admonition, while the maid is duly pleading,
with the Eastern Han dynasty offcial Liu Kuan in a pavilion with even the long sleeves of her robe suggestive of supplication.
reprimanding a maidservant over spilt food, while his wife Meanwhile the wife is shown spying on the results of her scheming,
peeks out from behind a screen and two servants carry lanterns her head peeking around the edge of the screen and her body half-
outside on a rocky terrace. The wide, everted rim is decorated crouching behind. The spilt food and scattered chopsticks add a
with six cartouches each containing a ribbon-tied precious sense of immediacy and drama to the moment which upsets the
object, reserved on a foral geometric ground. order and dignity of the household.
16 in. (40.7 cm.) diam.
A large famille verte vase decorated with the same scene on the neck,
$8,000-12,000 from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, was sold at
Christie’s New York, 21 September 2000, lot 314. A related famille
PROVENANCE verte basin of similar shape, decorated with ladies admiring goldfsh,
is illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the
Marc Michot, Bruges, Belgium, circa 1990. Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 154-55,
Private collection, Europe. no. 105.

The story depicted on the present basin is that of an offcial 清康熙 五彩「翻羹不恙」故事圖盤
of the Eastern Han dynasty named Liu Kuan. He was
renowned for his calm temperament, and his wife decided
to test this by instructing a maidservant to spill his food.
However, Liu Kuan lives up to his reputation and not
only forgives the maid but inquires whether she has burnt
her hand. With its depiction of a historical narrative and
exploration of ethical concerns for the scholar-offcial, this

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