Page 44 - Reginald and Lena Palmer Collection EXHIBITION, Bonhams London Oct 25 to November 2 2021

(top view)

11
A RED ENAMELLED YELLOW-GLAZED ‘PHOENIX’ BOWL It is unusual to find large bowls of comparable size to the present
Jiajing six-character mark and of the period piece, dating to the Jiajing period and painted, rather than incised,
20.7cm (8 1/8in) diam. with continuous designs of phoenix (representing the Empress), rather
than dragons (which represented the Emperor). It is probable that
the present bowl would have been used in Courtly rituals. The Jiajing
明嘉靖 黃地紅彩暗刻鳳紋大盌
青花「大明嘉靖年製」楷書款 Emperor was particularly concerned with Daoist rituals and alchemy to
prolong his life. The colour scheme on the present bowl is particularly
Provenance: auspicious. Indeed, the term ‘yellow on red’ (huang shang hong 黃
Bluett & Sons Ltd., London 上紅) is homophonous with the first part of the blessing ‘Wishing the
R.H.R Palmer (1898-1970), acquired from the above in October 1926, Emperor a flood of good fortune that fills the heavens’ (huang shang
Collection no.38 hong fu ji tian 皇上洪福齊天). Furthermore, the colour red was closely
associated with the Ming dynasty as the family name of the Imperial
Published and Exhibited: family - Zhu - also means vermillion (朱). Vermillion was also linked with
The Oriental Ceramic Society, Polychrome Wares of the Ming and the heavenly creature known as the Vermilion Bird (朱雀), and the fire
Manchu Dynasties, London, 1950, no.158 element. The yellow in the centre of the bowl symbolised the earth, as
well as the Yellow Dragon (黃龍).
來源：
倫敦古董商Bluett & Sons Ltd. Compare with a yellow-glazed bowl, Jiajing mark and of the period, of
R.H.R Palmer（1898-1970）於1926年10月購自上者，典藏編號38 similar form and size illustrated by J.Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, pl.155.
展覽著錄：
倫敦東方陶瓷學會，《Polychrome Wares of the Ming and Manchu
Dynasties》，倫敦，1950年，編號158

42 | BONHAMS