Page 14 - In His Majesty's Palm Excuisite Playthings April 5 17 HK Sothebys
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“O F RARE INGENUITY
AND EXTRAORDINARY
SKILL”
REGINA KRAHL
The joyful aspect of Chenghua doucai porcelain with its gaily Their production, which devoured thousands of taels of silver,
combined, jewel-like colours, was never surpassed or even was eventually stopped in 1485 to ease the burden on the
equalled in any other period. The small, delicately potted local population, who was responsible for the labour costs.
treasures created by the imperial kilns in the doucai (‘dove- This moratorium on the manufacture of such polychrome
tailed colours’) palette for only about a decade in the late porcelains seems to have lasted throughout the following
1470s and early ‘80s became desirable collector’s items reigns of the Hongzhi (1488-1505) and Zhengde (1506-21)
soon after the end of the reign and are among the rarest and Emperors. The unique historical situation in this brief span of a
most sought-after Chinese porcelains today. They reflect an decade that made the production of these wares possible, was
atmosphere of plenty at the court that was not to be of long never repeated. It contributes to the outstanding esteem that
duration. Chenghua doucai porcelains have enjoyed ever since and still
enjoy today and explains their extraordinary rarity.
In 1476, when the Emperor’s favourite concubine, Wan Guifei
(1430-87), was officially raised to the status of principal Some rare prototypes of this polychrome colour scheme,
concubine, huang guifei, she became a dominant influence where underglaze blue is combined with several enamel
on the Emperor as well as the court. The following years are colours, exist from the Xuande reign (1426-35) and probably
marked by lavish spending on luxury goods at the palace. the ‘interregnum’ period (1436-64), known mainly from sherds
No expenses were spared to commission sophisticated discovered at the Jingdezhen kiln sites, but also from two
pieces from the imperial kilns executed to the highest grade bowls of Xuande mark and period, preserved in the Sagya
of perfection. Chenghua doucai porcelains, with their fine Monastery, Sagya county, Tibet (Zhongguo taoci quanji
potting and multi-coloured decoration that required several [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], Shanghai, 1999-2000,
firings represented an extravagant luxury due to the labour- vol. 13, pl. 90). These bowls are painted with polychrome lotus
intensive production and high failure rate as well as their pond motifs with mandarin ducks as well as blue-and-white
mainly pleasurable rather than utilitarian character. Ts’ai borders of five-clawed dragons and Tibetan writing. The overall
Ho-pi believes that Chenghua doucai porcelains represented colour aspect is similar, although only part of the design is
the wares characterised in the records as qiji yiqiao (‘of rare outlined in underglaze blue. It was only when this polychrome
ingenuity and extraordinary skill’) or qiji yiwu (‘extraordinary decoration was adapted to the style now known as doucai in
objects of rare ingenuity’), whose manufacture was repeatedly the latter part of the Chenghua period that it became a classic,
denounced by officials (Cai Hebi, Chuanshi pin Chenghua ci/ and as such experienced a popular revival in the Qing dynasty
Everlasting Chenghua Porcelain, Taipei, 2003). (1644-1911).
12 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比
