Page 38 - Christie's Fine Chiense Works of Art November 2018 London

THE SOAME JENYNS COLLECTION OF
CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART
20
A RARE AND FINELY-DECORATED PAINTED ENAMEL 'PEONY' The exceptional quality of painting on the current bowl and cover indicates
BOWL AND COVER that it is very likely to have been manufactured in the Imperial Palace
18TH CENTURY Workshops in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Soame Jenyns himself notes
The bowl and cover are exquisitely painted to the sides with elaborate peony this point in his publication co-authored with Margaret Jourdain, Chinese
blooms growing from leafy stems in subtle tones of pink, purple and yellow on Export Art in the Eighteenth Century, 1967, p. 132, lot 123, where the current
a white ground, the top of the cover is decorated with fruiting grape vines. The bowl is illustrated and captioned ‘probably Peking work’. Archival documents
interiors and base are enamelled in lilac. indicate that certain painted enamel wares were gifted to the court by the
5 in. (12.6 cm.) diam. Guangdong Maritime Customs Ofice in the early years of the Qianlong reign
£10,000–15,000 $14,000–20,000 (1736-1695) and that these pieces had no marks. Is it noted that painted
€12,000–17,000 enamel wares from later in the period were made with Imperial reign marks.
The treatment of the two-tone turquoise and green-enamelled leaves
PROVENANCE:
Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Alfred Clark (1873-1950 and 1890/1-1976), no. 37. displayed on the current bowl are reminiscent of Yongzheng period (1723-
Collection of the late Soame Jenyns (1904-1976), then by descent within the 1735) enamels, particularly to peonies depicted on imperial porcelain wares.
family. See for example a fne and rare famille rose ‘peony’ bowl of Yongzheng mark
and period, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 April 2002, lot 567.
EXHIBITED:
International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935-
These factors would place the current bowl in the early part of the 18th
1936, cat. no. 2195, ser. no. 2590
century and more specifcally to the late Yongzheng-early Qianlong period.
The Arts of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Oriental Ceramics Society Exhibition, London,
1964, no. 337
LITERATURE:
International Exhibition of Chinese Art: Catalogue and Illustrated Supplement, 清十八世紀 銅胎畫琺瑯牧丹紋蓋碗
London, 1935-1936, p. 187, no. 2195 and illustrated p. 203, no. 2195.
Transactions of the Oriental Ceramics Society, 1963-64, vol. 35, London, 1965, 來源:
p. 71, no. 337 and illustrated plate 109, no. 337.
Soame Jenyns and Margaret Jourdain, Chinese Export Art in the Eighteenth 英國藏家Alfred Clark伉儷(1873-1950 及 1890/1-1976)舊
Century, London, 1967, p. 132, no. 123.
藏, 藏品編號37
Painted enamels were known as ‘foreign enamels’. The technique was 英國學者詹甯斯(1904-1976)舊藏, 家傳至今
developed in Europe in Flanders at the borders between Belgium, France
and Netherlands. In the late 15th century the town Limoges, in west central 展覽:
France, became the centre for enamel production. As the maritime trade
fourished between East and West, enamels were introduced to China via 倫敦皇家美術學院舉辦「中國藝術國際展覽」, 1935-1936
the trading port Canton (Guangzhou). The Qing court then set up Imperial 年, 編號2590, 圖錄編號2195
ateliers to produce enamelled metal wares in the Kangxi period (1662-1722).
In the early period, due to insuficient technical knowledge, only small 倫敦東方陶瓷學會「The Arts of the Ching Dynasty」,
vessels were made, with limited palette and murky colours. By the late 1964年, 編號337
Kangxi period, a wider range of brighter and purer colours became available,
resulting in clearer decorations and a higher level of technical sophistication. 出版：
倫敦皇家美術學院舉辦 《 中國藝術國際展覽 》, 1935-
1936年, 編號2590, 圖錄編號2195
倫敦東方陶瓷學會 《 The Arts of the Ching Dynasty 》,
1964年, 編號337
詹甯斯及Margaret Jourdain著 《 Chinese Export Art in
the Eighteenth Century 》, London, 1967年, 頁132, 圖123.

(detail of base)