Page 157 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong April 2, 2019 Sotheby's

This charming pair of bowls exemplifies the Yongzheng
Emperor’s infatuation with portents of good fortune and his
insistence of outstanding quality. The design is particularly
notable for its large areas of undecorated pristine ground,
which provide a striking visual contrast to the finely painted
motif. The cranes are rendered in a naturalistic manner,
their movements and plumage expertly painted with varying
shades of cobalt blue.
Bowls of this motif are unusual although two other pairs are
known: the first, included in the Kau Chi Society exhibition
Ancient Chinese Ceramics, Art Gallery, The Chinese
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1981, cat. no. 116, and
sold in our London rooms, 11th July 1978, lot 214, and again
in these rooms, 1st November 1994, lot 138, and the second,
sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 775. A
related motif of cranes is also known from the outsides of
dishes of Yongzheng mark and period, which on the interior
are similarly painted with a flowering peach tree; see for
example a dish, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
illustrated in the Museum’s exhibition Good Fortune, Long
Life, Health and Peace: A Special Exhibition of Porcelains
with Auspicious Designs, Taipei, 1995, cat. no. 66; another in
the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Qingdai yuyao ciqi
[Porcelains from the Qing dynasty imperial kilns], Beijing,
2005, vol. I, pt. II, pl. 49; and another sold in these rooms,
12th/13th May 1976, lot 145.
Compare also a cup of Yongzheng mark and period similarly
painted with eight cranes, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong,
19th March 1991, lot 561; a pair of bowls with a similar
crane design painted in the doucai palette, in the Chang
Foundation, Taipei, illustrated in James Spencer, Selected
Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990,
pl. 134; and a further doucai cup sold in these rooms, 28th
April 1992, lot 220.
This motif is highly auspicious. Cranes are symbolic of
immortality, and therefore eight cranes reference the Eight
Immortals. The flowering peach tree further strengthens this
association, and their appearance together expresses the
pun heshou yannian, which can be translated as ‘May the
crane and peaches extend your years’.

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