Page 14 - MANDARIN & MENAGERIE: THE SOWELL COLLECTION, PART II

610 610
A WHITE-GLAZED MOLDED ARCHAISTIC RITUAL FOOD
611 VESSEL AND COVER, FU
GUANGXU PERIOD (1875-1908)
12
The vessel is of rectangular section with faring sides, and
molded to the exterior with dragons amidst cloud-scrolls
and applied with a pair of loop handles issuing from
animal-heads, all above a band of key-fret raised on four
broad feet decorated with leiwen. The tapering cover is
similarly decorated with a wavy fanged top.
11Ω in. (29.2 cm.) across handles

$4,000-6,000

PROVENANCE:

The James E. Sowell Collection, Dallas, Texas.

The present lot is a Qing dynasty ceramic made in imitation
of its bronze prototype that frst appeared in the late Western
Zhou dynasty as part of an extended repertoire of ritual vessels.
Known as a fu, this type of vessel was used for storage of
food. Compare with an inscribed bronze fu of the Zhou period,
illustrated by J. Rawson, Western Zhou Ritual Bronzes from the
Arthur M. Sacker Collections, vol. IIA, 1990, p. 107, fg. 15b; it
is interesting to note the Qing ceramic version follows closely
with the same undulating motif found decorating the vessel and
lid of the early bronze original.

Qing ritual wares were strictly regulated and standardized
under guidelines set out by the Qianlong emperor. It is known
that regulations relating to the specifcation of ritual vessels
were included in a series of manuscripts, frst printed in 1766,
known as the Huangchao Liqi Tushi, ‘Illustrated regulations
for ceremonial paraphernalia of the Qing dynasty’. A drawing
of a fu vessel, which is considered to be the source from
which the 1766 edition was printed, now in the Victoria and
Albert Museum, is illustrated by M. Medley, Transactions of
the Oriental Ceramic Society, ‘The “Illustrated Regulations for
Ceremonial Paraphernalia of the Ch’ing Dynasty” in the Victoria
and Albert Museum’, pl. 39b.

A nearly identical vessel, also dating to the Guangxu period, was
sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2006, lot 1304.

清光緒 白釉模印雲龍紋簠

611
A FAMILLE ROSE AND TURQUOISE-GROUND SQUARE
BOX AND COVER

18TH-19TH CENTURY

The cover is decorated in famille rose enamels on the central

raised panel with a lady looking out from a window

towards a gentleman approaching on horseback. The

panel is surrounded by gilded foliate sprays reserved on

a turquoise-enameled fnely beaded ground, which is

repeated on the sides and on the box, all within gilded

borders. The interior and base are also covered in a

turquoise enamel. The base is inscribed with a six-character

Qianlong seal mark.

4Ω in. (11.5 cm.) wide (2)

$4,000-6,000

PROVENANCE:

The James E. Sowell Collection, Dallas, Texas.

清十八/十九世紀 松石綠地粉彩人物故事圖蓋盒