Page 131 - Tianminlou Hong Kong Sotheby's April 3 2019

Striking for its elegant and well-proportioned form, the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, is illustrated
flawless potting and carefully executed motif, this ewer in Geng Baochang, Gugong Bowuguan cang Ming chu
represents one of the most successful porcelain designs qinghua ci [Early Ming blue-and-white porcelain in the
of the Qianlong reign and belongs to an exclusive group of Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, vol. 2, pl. 210; one in the
wares made to imitate early 15th century porcelains. The National Palace Museum, Taipei, is published in Porcelain
decoration is notable for its bold and vigorous rendering of the National Palace Museum. Blue-and-White Ware of
in brilliant hues of cobalt and reflects the high level of the Ch’ing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1968, vol. II, pl. 14; another
resources available to the potters working at the imperial in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, is illustrated in
kilns at Jingdezhen. The Qianlong Emperor’s reverence for Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray
Ming dynasty porcelain is well recorded and he is known to Museum, Istanbul, London, 1986, vol. III, pl. 2565; and a
have commissioned close reproductions of such pieces. slightly larger example in the Nanjing Museum is illustrated
in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty,
Shanghai, 2003, pl. 214. See also a closely related ewer
Ewers of this elegant form were first made in the Hongwu from the Meiyintang collection, sold twice in these rooms,
and Yongle reigns, and are known with a variety of motifs, 26th October 1993, lot 179, and 4th April 2012, lot 28;
including flower scrolls, garden scenes and fruit. Their form and another with its matching cover from the Malcolm
and the use of quatrefoil panels as decorative devices date collection, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society
back to the Yuan dynasty. However, the motif of peaches exhibition Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, London, 1953,
and loquats and the surrounding ‘Flowers of the Four cat. no. 311, and sold in our London rooms, 5th July 1977,
Seasons’, which include rose, peony, chrysanthemum and lot 247.
camellia, would have resonated with significance among
the Ming aristocracy and literati elite. One of China’s most Ewers of this form and design continued to be produced
auspicious fruit, the peach is an omen of longevity and in the succeeding reigns; a Jiaqing mark and period
harbinger of happiness, while the loquat embodies the version in the Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in
spirit of the four seasons: it buds in autumn, blossoms in Geng Baochang, Gugong Bowuguan cang gu taoci ciliao
winter, sets fruit in spring and ripens in summer. xuancui [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the
Palace Museum], Beijing, 2005, vol. II, pl. 249; and a pair
Copies of Ming prototypes were first created in the of ewers with Daoguang marks and of the period, from the
Yongzheng reign, but became more popular during the Ohlmer collection in the Roemer-Museum, Hildeshein, are
Qianlong period, when the original design was successfully published in Ulrich Wiesner, Chinesisches Porzellan, Mainz
transformed to suit contemporary taste. The effectiveness am Rhein, 1981, pls 71 and 72.
of the Qing version lies in its reinterpretation of the
original design as displayed in the more linear rendering For the Yongle prototype of this form and design see a
of the flowers and leaves and the composition of the ewer recovered from the Yongle stratum of the Imperial
design to complement the elegant form. Furthermore, kiln site at Zhushan, Jingdezhen, included in the exhibition
while attempting to imitate the sought-after ‘heaping and Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain excavated at
piling effect’ of 15th century examples with the deliberate Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1996, cat. no.
application of darker spots of cobalt, craftsmen skilfully 59; and one with a cover, in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
reproduced the ripening skin of the fruits and turning of included in the Museum’s exhibition Imperial Porcelains
leaves. from the Reigns of Hongwu and Yongle in the Ming Dynasty,
Beijing, 2015, cat. no. 94.
Vases of this form are held in important museums and
private collections worldwide; a closely related ewer from

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