Page 121 - Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art II

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MR. AND MRS. ROBERT YOUNG, VIRGINIA

2268
A RARE PAIR OF DAYAZHAI YELLOW-GROUND JARDINIÈRES

GUANGXU-EARLY REPUBLIC PERIOD, LATE 19TH-EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Each is decorated around the exterior en grisaille with a continuous scene of peony

above lotus lappets and below ruyi flled with foliate scrollwork, with the Dayazhai

mark in iron red and tian di yi jia chun (Spring throughout the heaven and earth as one

family) in an oval cartouche surrounded by dragons.

12Ω in. (31.7 cm.) high (2)

$60,000-80,000

PROVENANCE:

Zenzo Nishida (1895-1977) Collection, Tokyo.
Acquired from the Nishida Family, Tokyo, 1992.

The group of porcelains marked with the characters Dayazhai was made for the personal use
of the powerful Empress Dowager, Cixi (1835-1908). Of signifcance is an important sub-
category of Dayazhai wares which is connected to Cixi’s 60th birthday in 1894. Among the
decorative characteristics of this group are the inscriptions Dayazhai and tian di yi jia chun,
and the composition of fowers and insects en grisaille against a yellow ground, all of which
are found on the present jardinieres. Ronald W. Longsdorf, in his article ‘Dayazhai Ware:
Porcelains of the Empress Dowager’, Orientations, March 1992, p. 46, suggests that the
technique of grisaille painting on a yellow ground is “reminiscent of ink painting, especially
with the seal mark and ‘Da ya zhai’ inscription in the same vermilion used for stamping seal
marks on paper.”

清光緒 大雅齋黃地墨彩牡丹如意紋花盆一對

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