Page 108 - Ming Porcelain Sothebys march 2018

106 SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK 20 MARCH 2018 MING: LUMINOUS DAWN OF EMPIRE

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While the painted decoration on the present bottle still echoes styles known
from the Xuande reign, its shape, with its unexpected, playful, sculptural ͉ଧ७ུd֠੭܁ᅃ፲ࠬdኜۨۍ᙮อ௴d
elements of a lotus-bud mouth and lotus-leaf handles with pierced openings, ᇳᖙɹdஃ໢Ѐdሳբॄ್d௴จอ̷dЧ
is totally innovative and does not seem to be following any precedents. ˷Ԩೌ΋Էf͉ଧਿ͉ኜҖЧ๕Іڡზࣛ˾
Although the basic shape may have been inspired by bronze bottles, hu, from ૉಂהԈڡზడdϾڀҖɹʿ໢ҖЀdۆ
ၾՉࡡۨೌᗫf̙ˢ༰ɓԷdГဏ⺗ვڡ
the late Bronze Age, the " oral mouth and handles have nothing to do with
ზడd̈Іܠ๕ੀϗᔛd቗࠯Ѐdႉ᎘ɹd
such models; compare, for example, a silver-inlaid bronze hu of the Western
ɹ௅⺗ვdΣɨַФЪۧ໢ًdྡ༱׵ҽኪ
Han period (206 BC – AD 9) from the Sze Yuan Tang collection, with garlic-
ාdʕ਷ڡზኜയሧ‘dอ̋սd2000
shaped mouth with pendent leaf motifs and applied animal masks to hold ring ϋdᇜ໮89f
handles, illustrated in Li Xueqin, The Glorious Traditions of Chinese Bronzes,
Singapore, 2000, cat. no. 89. ͉ଧ७ུ๕І܁ᅃڡڀኜdһ̋Ιᗇ͉ۜ᙮
ϓʷϘಂʘႭfՉᚂᇳࠬࣸd̙Ԉ׵܁ᅃନ
The painted designs of the present bottle are drawn from Xuande blue-and- ኜdԷԈ౻ᅃᕄ̈ɺ׼܁ᅃ֜㜺ନኜ‘d
white, which reinforces the assumption that the piece was made in the early ᒿᐤߕஔ᎜d̨̏d1998ϋdᇜ໮64iאԈ
অᘒ׹ᇜd݂ࢗ௹ي৫ᔛ׼ڋڡڀନ‘d
phase of Chenghua production. The lotus scroll that combines stylized foliate
̏ԯd2002ϋd՜ 1dྡو97d՜2dྡو
scrollwork with naturalistic lotus leaves and water weeds, can be found
108fٲ௅՜७dၾ܁ᅃ䋘Ԓ७ུ޴ЧdԈ
similarly on Xuande porcelains, see, for example, Jingdezhen chutu Ming
׼˾܁ᅃ֜㜺വശत࢝ྡ፽‘d݂ࢗ௹ي
Xuande guanyao ciqi/Xuande Imperial Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, ৫d̨̏d1998ϋdᇜ໮50א117iԑ௅ૠڀ
Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 64; or Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong ७d͵Ԉ׵܁ᅃ䋘Էdۃࠑ̈ஈdᇜ໮44ʿ
Bowuyuan cang Ming chu qinghua ci [Early Ming blue-and-white porcelain in 49i᎕௅ᇳڀ७dאစʷІ܁ᅃұ،ᇳ७d
the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, vol. 1, pl. 97, vol. 2, pl. 108. The formal νԈ׵܁ᅃᔝݟ˖̈ౘႊᜦdᔛ̏ԯ݂ࢗ௹
curled scrollwork border around the shoulder reminds us of scroll borders on ي৫dঅᘒ׹d2002ϋdۃࠑ̈ஈd՜2d
ྡو109f
Xuande bowls, see Mingdai Xuande guanyao jinghua tezhan tulu/Catalogue
of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming
Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, cat. nos 50 or 117; individual
prunus blossoms around the foot can also be seen on Xuande bowls, ibid.,