Page 48 - Christie's July 9th 2020 Hong Kong Important Chinese Works of Art

fig. 1 Ablutions Basin of Yemeni Sultan al-Mujahid Sayf al-Din 'Ali. ca. 1321-1363. Edward C. Moore Collection,
Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891. Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
圖一 銅胎鑲銀摺沿洗，約 1321-1363 年間製
Edward C. Moore 於 1891 年贈予紐約大都會博物館

2826 Continued

This exceptional Yongle basin belongs to a small group of porcelain is that it also appears in the Xuande reign, and an example bearing a
vessels decorated in underglaze cobalt blue, which are of a shape Xuande reign mark is published in Chinese Ceramics from the Museum
inspired by vessels from the Near East, where it was produced both in Yamato Bunkakan, illustrated catalogue Series no. 7, Nara, 1977, no.
metal and in glass. A 14th century Syrian enamelled glass example (d: 134. It is also significant that this was a form that was copied, with its
29.2 cm.) in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, New York, is original decorative schemes in the reigns of the great Qing emperors.
illustrated by John A. Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, A Yongzheng example, for example, is preserved in the collection of the
Philip Wilson, London, 1981, plate 135, B. Compare also a Syrian/ Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan cang – Ming
Egyptian brass basin with silver inlay dated to the 14th century in the chu qinghua ci, Beijing, 2002, xia ce, pp. 364-5, no. 196).
Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by Feng Xianming, ‘Yongle
and Xuande Blue-and-White Porcelain in the Palace Museum’, Chinese In the Yongle reign, porcelain basins of this form were made in a variety
Ceramics Selected Articles from Orientations 1982-1998, Hong Kong, of sizes from those with a mouth diameter of 16.5 cm., to those with a
1999, p. 177, fig. 10 (fig. 1); where it is illustrated together with a Yongle mouth diameter of 34.9 cm., all ornamented with a variety of decorative
blue and white basin in the Palace Museum. A further inlaid silver schemes on the interior and a floral scroll of some kind on the exterior.
metalwork example dated to 13th-14th century Egyptian Mamluk period The current basin is one of the larger vessels. Judging from published
is now in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, extant examples, it appears that only the larger Yongle basins are
and was exhibited at the Hayward Gallery and published in The Arts of decorated with a complex dianthus band on the rim, and with a ring of
Islam, Arts Council of Great Britain, London, 1976, p. 189, no. 213. The lotus petals enclosing auspicious emblems on the centre of the interior,
authors of this exhibition catalogue point out that these basins follow a as opposed to a band of waves on the rims with arabesque design on
form that was already known in Syria and Egypt in Ayyubid times (AD the interior seen on most of the mid-sized and small-sized examples.
1238-40) and refer to one in the same volume, cf. ibid., p. 181, no. 198. For other larger basins with dianthus band on the rim, see an example
This earlier version, however, lacks the very slightly waisted, straight (30.9 cm.) in the collection of the Nanjing Museum, illustrated
sides and the sharp angle to a flattened rim that is characteristic of the in Zhongguo Nanjing Bowuyuan suocang, Tokyo, 1998, p. 34, no. 6; and
later form that inspired the Chinese porcelain basins. A further example one (31.6 cm.) in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated
in the collection of Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue
in Islamic Art in the Kuwait National Museum, The al-Sabah Collection, and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (I), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 52,
Marilyn Jenkins (ed.), London, 1983, p. 94. no. 49; another (30.8 cm.). in the collection of the Asian Art Museum,
The inclusion of these Yongle porcelain basins in the Chinese imperial San Francisco, illustrated by He Li in Chinese Ceramics, London, 1996,
collections, and the fact that none appears in the Ardebil collection, and p. 219, no. 398.
only one in the collection of the Topkapi Saray in Istanbul (illustrated For small to mid-sized Yongle blue and white basins, see a mid-sized
by J. Ayers & R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum example (26.3 cm.) from the Le Cong Tang Collection, sold at Christie’s
Istanbul, vol. II, London, 1986, p. 516, no. 611, and colour plate on p. 421), Hong Kong, 27 November 2017, lot 8002 (fig. 2); and a small example
suggests that these vessels, despite their foreign form, were in fact (16.5 cm.) in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete
intended for elite patrons in China, and not as export wares. Further collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain
evidence of this basin form being appreciated by the Chinese court with Underglaze Red (I), Hong Kong, 2000, p. 53, no. 50.

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