Page 72 - Imperial Sale Chinese Works of Art June 1 2016 HK

3221 Continued

The present stem bowl has the beautifully balanced profile 盌撇口，弧腹，高足中空。盌內外滿施白釉。盌壁暗刻佛八吉
characteristic of the early 15th century, and is covered in the soft 祥，盌心圈內印「永樂年製」篆書款，外環蓮瓣紋。
lustrous white glaze, which is called tianbai or ‘sweet white’ in Chinese.
This glaze was developed in the Yongle reign and appears to have 永樂、宣德時期景德鎮官窯盛行高足盌的造型，永樂高足盌常
been a particular favourite of the emperor. More than ninety percent 見以冬青釉、甜白釉裝飾。永樂官窯瓷器多不落款，這批白釉
of the porcelains from this period, which were found at the site of the 高足盌卻帶款，相信是永樂朝臣沈度的手書體，亦成為明清官
imperial kilns, were white wares. This reflects the aesthetic preference 窯最早生產的帶款瓷器。明代焦竑著《玉堂叢話》，其中卷七
of the emperor, who demonstrated a special appreciation of plain 「巧藝」記述：「度書獨為上所愛，凡玉冊、金簡，用之宗廟
white items, such as white jades. It is also a reflection of his adherence 朝廷、藏秘府、施四裔、刻之貞石，必命度書之。」
to Lamaist Buddhism. The anhua, or ‘secret decoration’ around the
sides of this stem bowl depicts the Eight Buddhist Emblems. 同款八吉祥紋並不多見。相近例子有盌心環波浪紋，1984年
11月20日於香港蘇富比拍賣，拍品349號。其他例子以暗花龍
The Yongle Emperor invited several important abbots from Tibetan 紋居多，台北故宮博物院藏一例，見1991年台北出版劉良佑著
monasteries to come to the Chinese capital at Nanjing, and received 《中國歷代陶瓷鑑賞．卷4．明官窰》，35頁。
them with great ceremony. White porcelains of this type would have
been made for use in the rituals performed during those visits, in
particular those conducted by Halima in memory of the emperor’s
deceased parents in 1407. Porcelains of this type were also sent by
the emperor as gifts to the abbots of important Tibetan monasteries,
where some of them have been preserved to the present day.

This stem bowl also belongs to one of the earliest groups of porcelains
to bear the reign mark of the ruling emperor. On the interior of the
stem bowl is a four-character reign mark reading Yong le nian zhi,
‘Made in the Yongle reign’, which is written in a style of calligraphy
based on that of the emperor’s favourite calligrapher, Shen Du. The
reign of the Yongle Emperor was the first in which reign marks
regularly appeared on porcelains made for the Chinese court.

There are very few examples of Yongle-marked stem bowls with
anhua-decorated Eight Buddhist Emblems. Another example but
with the reign mark surrounded by waves was sold at Sotheby’s
Hong Kong, 20 November 1984, lot 349. A more common pattern is
‘dragons’ on the well, as can be seen on one in the collection of the
National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated by Liu Liang-yu, A Survey
of Chinese Ceramics - 4 - Ming Official Wares, Taipei, 1991, p. 35.

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