Page 68 - 2019 September 11th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art

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A FINE ANHUA-DECORATED WHITE-GLAZED A closely related stemcup was included in the exhibition
‘EIGHT BUDDHIST EMBLEMS’ STEMCUP Ch’ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, Hong
YONGZHENG MARK AND PERIOD Kong, 1974, cat. no. 51; another was sold at Christie’s Hong
Kong, 29th October 2010, lot 2821; and a third was sold
the rounded flared sides resting on a splayed pedestal in these rooms, 17th-18th March 2015, lot 281. Stemcups
foot, the exterior of the bowl finely incised with beribboned of this type are also known covered in other monochrome
‘Eight Buddhist Emblems’ each supported on stylized lotus glazes; a Yongzheng mark and period stemcup, similarly
blooms, above a band of ruyi heads, the stem with further carved with the ‘Eight Buddhist Emblems’ but covered in a
lotus sprays and encircled by a raised filet incised with a yellow glaze, in the Baur Foundation, Geneva was included
band of florets, all under a lustrous white glaze pooling to a in the exhibition A Millennium of Monochromes. From the
bluish tint in the recesses, the interior of the stem inscribed Great Tang to the High Qing. The Baur and the Zhuyuetang
with a horizontal six-character mark in underglaze blue Collections, Geneva, 2018, cat. no. 183; another from the
Diameter 7 in., 17.8 cm Sir Percival David collection, now in the British Museum,
London, was published in Margaret Medley, Illustrated
PROVENANCE Catalogue of Ming and Qing Monochrome Wares in the
Christie’s New York, 29th March 2006, lot 460. Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1989, pl.
A575; and a slightly larger example with green glaze was
LITERATURE included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition, The
Karen Thomson, ed., The Blema and H. Arnold Steinberg Ceramic Art of China, London, 1971, cat. no. 248. See also
Collection, Montreal, 2015, pl. 157. similar white-glazed examples, but without the central node,
illustrated in Chinese Porcelain: The S. C. Ko Tianminlou
Notable for its pristine white glaze, refined form and delicate
anhua or ‘hidden decoration’, this elegant stemcup derives Collection, Part I, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 134 and Shimmering
Colours: Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods, The
its design from prototypes made in the early Ming dynasty. Zhuyuetang Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, pl. 23.
The Yongzheng Emperor revered and studied these wares
and a monochrome white stembowl was included in the
handscroll Guwantu [Pictures of antiquities] from 1729, in $ 50,000-70,000
the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which depicts
treasured objects in the Imperial collection (China. The
Three Emperors. 1662-1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 清雍正 白釉暗花蓮托八寶紋高足盌
2005, cat. no. 169, p. 255 bottom right). According to the
Qing Imperial archives, the Yongzheng Emperor was actively 《大清雍正年製》款
involved in their production, in 1732 issuing a decree to
“Make some stemcups in each of these colours: sacrificial 來源
red, sacrificial blue, yellow and white. Also have some 紐約佳士得2006年3月29日，編號460
heavier pieces ready for bestowal on Mongolian nobles as
occasions arise” (The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics 出版
IV. Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 45). Karen Thomson 編，《The Blema and H. Arnold
Steinberg Collection》，蒙特利爾，2015年，圖版157

66 SOTHEBY’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART