Page 234 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 London

A wucai fish bowl, Longqing mark and period;
© The Trustees of the British Museum, London
明隆慶 五彩蓮池水禽紋缸 「大明隆慶年造」款
圖片由倫敦大英博物館受託人提供
An important and extremely rare wucai fish bowl
Longqing six-character mark and of the period
The present fish bowl is important as it is one of apparently only
six known to exist. It appears to be the largest of the six. The other comparing the enamels of the present bowl to the important fish bowl
examples are now all in museum collections as follows:
1. The Sir Percival David Foundation at the British Museum,
London, (PDF 778), which was acquired from Yamanaka in 1931,
illustrated by R.Scott, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art,
London, 1989, p.86, pl.80;
2. The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, (A.1919.406),
which entered the Museum collection in 1919;
3. The State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow.
4. The Hatakeyama Kinenkan Museum, Tokyo, illustrated by
R.Fujioka and G.Hasebe, Ceramic Art of the World - Ming
Dynasty, vol.14, Tokyo, 1976, p.201, pl.202 and by Geng
Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Hong Kong, 1993, p.500,
pl.69;
5. The Umezawa Kinenkan Museum, Tokyo, illustrated in
Mayuyama, Seventy Years, vol.I, Tokyo, 1976, p.292, pl.877.
This important fish bowl, whilst known to a very small number of
Chinese art enthusiasts, has been discreetly kept in a distinguished
European private collection until now. It was acquired by the present
owners from a family friend in 1978, though it was known to them as
early as the 1960s.
As all other known examples are now in museum collections, this is
the first opportunity and possibly the only one to acquire one of the
most important and impressive examples of porcelain dating to the
very brief reign of the Longqing emperor.
A wucai fish bowl, Longqing mark and period;
image taken by kind permission of the National Museums
of Scotland.
明隆慶 五彩蓮池水禽紋缸 「大明隆慶年造」款
圖片承蒙蘇格蘭國家博物館允許拍攝
The vibrancy of the enamels is particularly noteworthy and
demonstrates the successful firing of the enamels, whilst the deep
violet underglaze cobalt blue is a striking example of this period and
follows from the deep blue of the Jiajing period. This is evident when
in the Percival David Foundation collection at the British Museum. It is
also interesting to note that the slightly larger diameter of the present
bowl allowed the craftsman a larger ‘canvas’ upon which to illustrate
the design, resulting in very pleasing and successful spacing.
Imperial records note severe flooding and earthquakes in Jingdezhen
in the area around the imperial kiln in the late 1560s. In 1571 the kilns
were devastated by fire. These elements caused significant disruption
to porcelain manufacture at the time. Furthermore, the impressive
size of the present fish bowl would have made it difficult to fire and
consequently very costly. In 1571 the Jingdezhen censor Xu Shi (1519-
81) requested that the large Imperial order recently sent should be
reduced by 80 percent. He specifically asked that the large fish bowls
should be entirely removed from the order as they were particularly
difficult to fire. Indeed, R.L.Hobson in The Wares of the Ming Dynasty,
London, 1923, p.110, notes ‘To build up in porcelain and fire
successfully the large fish bowls was one of the most difficult problems
which the Imperial potters had to face’.
Jessica Harrison-Hall notes in the Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming
Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p.268: ‘Items with
Longqing reign marks are particularly valuable for dating as the reign
period was so short. Few ceramics were produced compared to the
years sandwiching it’.
The Longqing Emperor (b.1537- d.1572), succeeded the Jiajing
Emperor inheriting a country in disarray. He set out to reform and
improve the governance by employing talented officials and purging
those deemed corrupt. He recreated a structure of international trade,
fortified seaports in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces against pirate raids,
and repelled a Mongol army which breached the Great Wall. However,
though considered to be one of the more liberal-minded Ming
Emperors, he eventually became more interested in pursuing personal
enjoyment and his six-year reign did not stem the continuing decline.
He was succeeded by his 10 year-old son, the Wanli Emperor.