Page 88 - Bonhams Passkon and Philanthropy MET Mjuseum March 2024 Asia Week

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FIVE THAI-MARKET GRADUATED BENCHARONG COVERED
JARS WITH NORASINGH FIGURES, TOH
19th century
Comprising four jars of deep bowl form with almost-vertical sides and
with domed and stepped covers, each painted in polychrome enamels
with Thepanom figures in cartouches alternating with Norasingh
figures against a deep-blue ground with flame-like kranok leaf motifs,
two bands of flower and scroll pattern around the neck and the short
circular foot, the domed covers with a flat disc knop and a lotus-bud
finial and similarly decorated; and a globular jar and domed cover
similarly decorated. (5)
deep bowls and covers: 8in (20.3cm) to 3 3/4in (19.5cm) high overall
globular jar and cover: 3 5/8in (9.2cm) high overall

$1,500 - 2,500

十九世紀 宾乍隆護法神紋蓋碗五件
Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價
Provenance:
Theodor Ring, Oslo (formerly Kristiania), Norway
Avery Fund, 1909
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1909-present
來源：
挪威奧斯陸（舊稱克里斯蒂安尼亞）Theodor Ring 舊藏
Avery 基金，1909 年
大都會藝術博物館，1909 年迄今
For a bowl and cover of identical type with deep blue-black ground
and donated by George Eumorfopoulos to the Benaki Museum in
1929-30, see George Manginis, China Rediscovered, The Benaki
Museum Collection of Chinese Ceramics, Athens/London, 2016,
pp.22-23, no. 01. The author notes that the so-called ‘Bencharong’
ware was made in Jingdezhen originally for the Royal Siam court
(present-day Thailand) and its use was later extended to Siamese
court officials and wealthy merchants. Bencharong can be translated
as ‘five-colored’, though the colors were usually more numerous.
See The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2003, pp.142-143, for a variety of similar examples.

For further reading, see Dawn F. Rooney, Bencharong, Chinese
Porcelain for Siam, Bangkok, 2017. In this fascinating and insightful
publication, the author covers many areas of the ceramic production,
decoration, function and the history of the trade between China and
Siam. To paraphrase, she notes that the wares are easily identifiable
because of the brilliant colors over a glazed white porcelain; the
decoration covering the entire surface, with no space untouched;
subjects of mythical creatures of Buddhist and Hindu lore surrounded
by verdant tropical vegetation; geometric floral units; and often gilt
highlights.

86 | BONHAMS