Page 144 - important chinese art mar 22 2018

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PROPERTY FROM AN ASIAN PRIVATE COLLECTION ׼͑ᆀ ܁ᅃ ზߣỻക೗๻ᚂ،ڀ̓७䋘
A RARE CLOISONNE ENAMEL ‘FLORAL’ Ը๕
BOWL ࠰ಥԳɻ੻1999ϋ11˜2˚dᇜ໮798
MING DYNASTY, YONGLE / XUANDE PERIOD
sturdily cast, with thick rounded walls rising from a small foot-
ring, with a raised double-! llet band to the exterior, enclosing
a classic scroll on a blue ground, the lower section of the bowl
with scrolling lotus beneath further " oral scrolls at the rim, the
interior similarly enameled and centered with a lotus blossom,
all against a turquoise ground and gilt details
Diameter 5⅛ in., 13 cm

PROVENANCE
Christie’s Hong Kong, 2nd November 1999, lot 798.
This charming bowl is accentuated by the raised band
that encircles the exterior; two closely related examples in
the Pierre Uldry collection were included in the exhibition
Chinesisches Cloisonné die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Museum
Reitberg, Zurich, 1985, cat. nos 20 and 21; another was sold
in our London rooms, 18th June 1985, lot 242; and a fourth
example was sold at Christie’s London, 1st December 1997,
lot 277. Compare also a bowl of this type, but the raised band
decorated with red scrolling leaves on a turquoise ground, sold
in our London rooms, 13th December 1988, lot 43.
The re! nement and sinicization of Buddhist-style imagery
in the ! fteenth century is evident in the elegant bands of
decoration on this bowl. Tibetan-inspired cloisonné enamel
vessels were created for use in Buddhist temples and thus
decorated with designs suitable for their ceremonial function
and surroundings. The dense composition of lotus scrolls with
spiky blooms that often ! lled the background of paintings from
central Tibet has been adopted by Chinese craftsmen as the
main decorative motif for this piece. This design was chosen
to adorn a variety of artifacts, including porcelain, lacquer and
bronze.
For a cloisonné enamel kundika derived from a Tibetan
prototype, similarly decorated with lotus scrolls interlaced
with raised bands of gilt bronze, see one from the T.B. Kitson
Collection, sold in our London rooms, 18th October 1960, lot
104, and now in the British Museum, London, published in
Sir Harry Garner, Chinese and Japanese Cloisonné Enamels,
London, 1962, pl. 16. The stylized lotus " ower medallion
adorning the center of the interior of the bowl is also seen on
Xuande mark and period vessels; three circular boxes with
similar lotus " ower motifs on the cover, in the Pierre Uldry
Collection, were included in the Museum Reitberg exhibition,
op. cit., cat. nos 1-4; and a blue and white bowl in the National
Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Special Exhibition
of Selected Hsuan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty,
National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 184.
$ 100,000-150,000

142 SOTHEBY’S