Page 94 - Jie Rui Tang Kangxi porcelain mar 2018

356 A RARE AND LARGE ⌲Ꮴ⛆ 㭻⯛̶ᒖ๔⯹
SANCAI-GLAZED Ȩ๔⌲Ꮴ⛆Ꭱ㸪ȩ
BOWL

Kangxi Mark and Period
ҳ⎽
! nely potted, the deep rounded sides rising A J Speelman⧍侚2002䎃
from a slightly tapered foot to an everted
rim, freely splashed allover with emerald- ܧ❵
green, marigold-yellow, and bright aubergine Je$ rey P StamenCynthia Volk ⿻⧋❠俛
famille-verte enamels, the exterior of the foot շ俒ꅷ⼾搭 : 悦誩㛔询䐁擳渿⚆櫙ո䋒ス
enameled vibrant green, the base with a six- 饟2017䎃㕬晝21
character mark in underglaze blue within a
double circle, coll. no. 1560.
Diameter 12⅜ in., 31.4 cm
PROVENANCE
A. & J. Speelman, London, 2002.
LITERATURE
Je$ rey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin
Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-era Chinese
Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection,
Bruges, 2017, pl. 21.
The lively abstracted splashes that decorate
the present bowl are inspired by earlier lead
glazes ! rst created by northern potters in
the 6th century. Sancai, or three-color glaze,
reached a zenith in the Tang dynasty. Creative
solutions emerged to control the runny nature
of the glaze and allow the bright colors to be
applied in patterns often inspired by exotic
batik and other resist-pattern textiles. The
archaistic stippling and dripping that enlivens
the bold decoration of the present bowl was a
means to pay tribute and establish continuity
with one of the most illustrious dynasties of
Chinese history. The dense, overlapping spots
are also known as ‘tiger-skin pattern’ (hu pi
ban).
The present bowl is exceptionally rare for its
large size. There appears to be only one other
known example of this scale which is from the
Qing Court Collection and illustrated in The
Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum, Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains
Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, Hong Kong, 2009,
pl. 226 ( g. 1). Similarly decorated forms of
this period frequently bear the Kangxi reign
mark as an indication of their status (ibid.,
pl. 225). The pattern was very popular and
numerous lesser quality examples bearing
di$ erent marks or unmarked were produced,
many of which found their way West where
the glaze is referred to as ‘egg and spinach’.
Examples of this type are also included in the
Palace Museum, Beijing (ibid., pls 223 and
224).
Fig. 1 A large sancai bowl, Kangxi mark and period,
Palace Museum, Beijing
$ 80,000-120,000 © The Palace Museum, Beijing

92 SOTHEBY’S