Page 79 - 2019 October Qing Imperial Porcelain Sotheby's Hong Kong

The current bowl, with its striking iridescent black ground, is
an extremely rare example of a small group of black-ground
wares produced in the Yongzheng period. Not only do they
reflect the Emperor’s tendency of harking back to celebrated
wares of the past, they also demonstrate the craftsmen’s
high level of experimentation and ability to go above and
beyond.
The colour scheme first appeared on a small number of
pieces produced in the mid-15th century, whereby a layer
of lead-based copper-green enamel was combined under
a layer of cobalt, which upon firing, fused them together to
create a glossy black glaze. Revived under the Kangxi reign
as an extension of the famille-verte palette, vessels were
enamelled with decoration against a black ground. See a
pair of bowls vibrantly enamelled with floral scrolls against
a black ground, dated to the Kangxi period, from the Avery
Brundage Collection and now preserved in the Asian Art
Museum of San Francisco, published on the Museum’s
website, nos B60P1742 and B60P1743.
By the Yongzheng period, the porcelain body became finer,
thus enabling the black enamel to achieve a glossier and
more iridescent effect as seen on the present bowl. Despite
the remarkable contrast from setting coloured enamels
against a black ground, such wares and identical pieces are
extremely rare due to the difficulties in producing them.
The pair to the current piece is illustrated in Provenance,
op.cit. pl. 138 right, and was probably the one included in
the exhibition The Barbara Hutton Collection of Chinese
Porcelain, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, 1956, pl.
XIIIa.
Compare two related bowls more densely decorated with
varying floral blooms using a wider range of enamels, one
from the Bruce and Jean Beaudette Collection, sold in our
New York rooms, 28th May 1991, lot 290, and later in these
rooms, 8th April 2007, lot 781; and another, sold in our
London rooms, 6th November 2013, lot 77, from the Alfred
Beit Foundation.
Compare also three black-ground dishes predominantly
decorated in iron red as is the current bowl, but also painted
with blue enamel, one in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
London, gift of Julia C. Culland, illustrated in Rose Kerr,
Chinese Ceramics, Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911,
London, 1998, (rev. ed. 1998), no. 23; and a pair offered in An
Important Collection of Chinese Ceramics, lot 3020.

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