Page 91 - 2020 December 1 Bonhams Hong Kong, Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of art

Unusually, the dragons on the pair of dishes are carved with their Published examples of Chenghua yellow-glazed mark and period
jaws open revealing sharp teeth. Related design can be seen in dishes include:
dragons painted on a blue and white dish, unearthed from the tombs
of Jingling Prince Zhu Mengzhao who died in 1447 and his consort, • The inventory of the holdings of the National Palace Museum, Taipei
Jiangxi District, Wuhan, Hubei Province, published in Lustre Revealed: Gugong ciqi lu [Record of porcelains from the Old Palace], listing
Jingdezhen Porcelain Wares in Mid Fifteenth Century China, Shanghai, three yellow dishes, Chenghua mark and period, of related size; of
2019, no.215. However, related dragons with open jaws can also be which one, 17.8cm diam. at the mouth, 3.8cm high, 10.3cm footring
seen on Chenghua mark and period dishes; compare those on a blue diam., is illustrated by Ts’ai Ho-Pi, Essential Collection of Cheng-hua
and white dish, Chenghua mark and period, in the Sir Percival David Porcelain Ware from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2017,
Collection in the British Museum, illustrated by R.Scott and S.Pierson, no.90. A second example, but with the interior white glazed, 19cm
Flawless Porcelain: Imperial Ceramics from the Reign of the Chenghua diam. at the mouth, 3.7cm high, 11.6cm footring diam., is illustrated
Emperor, London, 1995, no.9 (PDF B680). See also an unmarked by Ts’ai Ho-Pi, Essential Collection of Cheng-hua Porcelain Ware
blue and white dish, Chenghua, illustrated by J.Harrison-Hall, Ming from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2017, no.93.
Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p.166, no.6:9. • Sir Percival David Collection, British Museum, PDF no.A515,
20.1cm diam. at the mouth, 4.1cm high; published by R.Scott and
Another design feature is the elongated thick body of the dragons S.Pierson, Flawless Porcelain: Imperial Ceramics from the Reign of
ending in an S-shape. In some cases, such S-shaped dragon-bodies the Chenghua Emperor, London, 1995, p.47, no.29.
end with a closed-mouth dragon, whilst in other instances they end • Another flared dish, Chenghua mark and period, which was sold at
with an open-mouthed dragon. However, it would seem inconclusive Sotheby’s London, 7 April 1981, lot 250, 20cm diam.
at this point to draw clear conclusions as to dating to either the late • Another flared dish, Chenghua mark and period, in Bristol City Art
Tianshun or the early Chenghua reigns based on this decorative Gallery, measuring 17.4cm diam. across the rim, 10.4cm diam.
feature, particularly as during the early Chenghua reign there was a across the footring, 4cm high.
clear continuity of design from earlier reigns.
Four examples of smaller size:
In conclusion, this unique pair which dates to the late Tianshun to early • A smaller yellow-glazed dish, Chenghua mark and period, from the
Chenghua period, provides an important step in our understanding of H.R.N. Norton Collection and later the Pilkington Collection, which
this special period, combining inspiration from the past with peerless was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 5 April 2017, lot 1, measuring
quality. The anhua five-clawed dragon design covered in yellow 14.8cm diam.
glaze could only have been made for Imperial use and was probably • One in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated by Lu Minghua, Shanghai
reserved for the emperor. This pair of dishes has been handed down Bowuguan cangpin yanjiu daxi/Studies of the Shanghai Museum
as heirlooms through the generations to shine once more. Collections: A Series of Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming
imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl.3-68.
Examples of Chenghua mark and period yellow-glazed dishes • Another from the collection of Mr and Mrs R.H.R. Palmer, which
The Chenghua period saw the reappearance of monochrome yellow- was sold at Sotheby’s London, 28 May 1968, lot 99, 5 7/8in diam.
glazed wares. However, no more than about twenty monochrome yellow (approx. 14.9cm diam.).
dishes, Chenghua mark and period, in various sizes, with flared as well • Another in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated
as straight rims, are recorded worldwide. All but three of these are in in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics],
museum collections, and only four dishes seem to have appeared at Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol.13, pl.35.
auction, excluding the present pair of dishes. Half of this group are of the
category with flared rims, and of these, only half again are of the larger
size, comparable in form and colour to the present pair of dishes.

Fig.1 A white glazed anhua- Fig.2 A blue and white dish, Fig.3 A blue and white dish, Fig.4 A blue and white dish,
decorated cup, Chenghua Zhengtong; image after Chenghua mark and period; Chenghua; © The Trustees of
mark and period; image cour- Jingdezhen Porcelain Wares © The Trustees of the British the British Museum
tesy of the National Palace in Mif Fifteenth Century China, Museum
Museum, Taipei Shanghai, 2019, no.215

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