Page 165 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong April 2, 2019 Sotheby's

This bowl is remarkable for its lively depiction of fish and
crushing waves against an undecorated ground. The fish
are skilfully rendered swimming and twisting their bodies
with fine pencilled lines and broad washes of cobalt blue.
Depictions of four fish among waterweeds are known on blue
and white porcelain from as early as the Yuan dynasty and
on these early wares the fish are sometimes identified as the
black carp (qing yu), the silver carp (bai yu), the common
carp (li yu) and the Chinese perch (gui yu); their names,
qing bai li gui, are homophonous with the words for purity,
morality and nobility, making this identification particularly
appropriate.
Bowls of this design are unusual although a closely related
example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated
in Blue and White Ware of the Ch’ing Dynasty, Hong Kong,
1968, vol. II, pl. 27; and another from the collection of Mrs P.
Pounce, was sold in our London rooms, 29th March 1977, lot
264. Compare also a pair of cups with Qianlong marks and
of the period, painted with a similar motif of four fish among
waterweeds, sold in these rooms, 30th April 1991, lot 75.

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