Page 53 - Tianminlou Hong Kong Sotheby's April 3 2019

Painted in vibrant tones of cobalt, the fruit motif on excavated from the waste heaps of the Ming imperial kilns
this bowl can be considered one of the most successful in Jingdezhen is illustrated in Lu Minghua, Mingdai guanyao
patterns of the early Ming dynasty and belongs to the ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 3-121.
central repertoire of the Xuande Imperial kilns. The A bowl of this type painted with fruit, in the National Palace
present example is particularly remarkable for the delicate Museum, Taipei, was included in the Museum’s Special
rendering of fruits with broad washes of cobalt and fine Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of
brushstrokes. Bowls with such elegant motifs display the the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 47; one from the
newly awakened interest in fine blue and white porcelain at collection of Sir Percival David, now in the British Museum,
the Xuande court. It is in this period, that porcelain catered London, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World’s
mostly for the imperial family, hence vessels reflect in both Great Collections, vol. 6, Tokyo, 1980, pl. 98; and another
size and taste the aesthetic ideals of the period.
in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., was included
Such high quality porcelain, inscribed with the Xuande in the exhibition Ming Porcelains in the Freer Gallery of Art,
reign mark, was made exclusively at the imperial kilns in Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1953, pl. 10.
Jingdezhen, which were under the strict supervision of A further bowl of this design from numerous notable
palace eunuchs and local officials. The Imperial Porcelain private collections including the Meiyintang collection,
Bureau was established in Jingdezhen in the second year and illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the
of Hongwu (1369), although officials and eunuchs were not Meiyintang Collection, vol. 4, London, 2010, pl. 1655, was
sent there to supervise production until the Xuande reign. sold three times in our London rooms, and most recently
The court would commission wares with decorations based in these rooms, 5th October 2011, lot 13; another from
on guanyang (official designs) or huaben (model drawings). the collection of Stephen Junkunc III, was sold in our New
Official records of porcelain production are limited and do York rooms, 22nd March 1995, lot 234; and a third from
not mention this particular mixed fruit design. Only three the Toguri collection, illustrated in Min Shin no bijutsu [The
orders for porcelain are recorded: one in the first year of art of Ming and Qing], Tokyo, 1982, pl. 6, was sold in our
Hongxi, corresponding to 1424, and the second and third London rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 16.
in the fifth and eighth year of Xuande, corresponding to
1430 and 1433 respectively. The large quantity of extant Bowls of this form are also known painted with a lotus
porcelains with Xuande marks and of the period, as well as scroll, such as lot 7 in this sale, with a peony scroll, lot 11,
the impressive number of shards recovered at the imperial or with a mixed floral scroll, lot 9. The original function
kiln site at Zhushan, Jingdezhen, clearly show that a large of these bowls, which are particularly sturdy and are
quantity of wares made in the period did not enter into undecorated on the interior, is a matter of debate. For a
the official records. A fragmentary bowl of this pattern discussion on their function see lot 11.