Page 87 - Tianminlou Hong Kong Sotheby's April 3 2019

Expertly painted on both the interior and exterior, this bowl Bowls painted with this motif of lotus on the exterior and
epitomises the refinement of the early Ming aesthetic and a composite floral scroll on the interior include one in the
embodies the ideals of harmony and precision. Its finely Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan
potted body, translucent glaze and delicate floral scroll cang Ming chu qinghua ci [Early Ming blue-and-white
that flows seamlessly around the vessel, are remarkable. porcelain in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, vol. 2,
Painting with cobalt on the cavetto was particularly difficult pl. 148; another in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
and the fine and vivid rendering of the floral scroll on this included in the Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial
bowl testifies to the remarkable talent of the potters. Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, cat. no.
134; and a third in the Jingdezhen Ceramic Museum,
The form of this bowl and its delicate motif of lotus blooms
appear to have enjoyed immediate success in the Yongle Jingdezhen, illustrated in Keitokuchin jiki [Jingdezhen
period and continued to be painted on imperial bowls porcelain], Kyoto, 1982, pl. 40 (top). See also two in the
through the succeeding reign. The remarkable technical British Museum, London, the first from the Sir Percival
and artistic advances made during the Xuande period David collection, illustrated in R.L. Hobson, A Catalogue
are evident in the vividness and clarity of the design of Chinese Pottery and Porcelain in the Collection of Sir
and consistent application of cobalt. The instability and Percival David Bt., FSA, London, 1934, pl. CXXXIV (d),
fuzziness of the imported cobalt prevalent on the earlier and the other from the collection of Mrs B.Z. Seligman,
Yongle wares demanded a revised formula of the pigment. published in Jessica Harrison-Hall, op.cit., pl. 4:25; one
With the inclusion of manganese native to China, the in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, illustrated in Mary
cobalt pigment used in the Xuande period enabled greater Tregear, Guide to Chinese Ceramics in the Ashmolean
precision of the brushwork, which in turn conveyed a Museum, Oxford, 1966, p. 30; and another in the
stronger sense of confidence on the part of the painter. Indianapolis Museum included in the exhibition Blue and
White: Chinese Porcelain and its Impact on the Western
A devoted patron of the arts and himself a painter, the World, University of Chicago, Chicago, 1985, cat. no. 19.
Xuande Emperor took a great interest in the production
of porcelain at the Imperial kilns in Jingdezhen. Literary A slightly larger bowl of this pattern was excavated from
and archaeological evidence reveal an increased demand the Yongle stratum at the site of the imperial kiln complex
for imperial porcelain for both secular and religious in Zhushan, Jingdezhen, and included in the exhibition
use, resulting in the number of official kilns to increase Jingdezhen chutu Ming chu guanyao ciqi/Imperial Hongwu
from 32 to 58. Indeed the staggering number of shards and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang
unearthed from the Xuande stratum at the imperial kiln Foundation, Taipei, 1996, cat. no. 123, together with a
site in Zhushan, Jingdezhen, and the large collection of larger bowl recovered from the Hongwu stratum, painted in
extant Xuande wares in the Qing Court collection and copper red with a scrolling lotus on the exterior, cat. no. 7.
now in Beijing and Taipei, suggest a dramatic increase Bowls of this design were treasured heirlooms, as attested
in production. Porcelain wares were made as gifts that by the depiction of ten bowls of this form and design in
signified imperial favour, but also for consumption at court the handscroll of the imperial collection of the Yongzheng
and among members of the aristocracy. The Emperor Emperor dated 1728. From the Moorhead and Sir Percival
himself reputedly ate three meals a day, each of which David collections, the scroll was sold in our London rooms,
would have required a large number of utensils (Jessica 19th May 1939, lot 62, and is now in the British Museum,
Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, published on the Museum’s website, accession no.
London, 2001, p.119). PDF X01, 16th view.

85