Page 230 - Important Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, Hong Kong

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF RONALD W. LONGSDORF
3393
A VERY RARE BLUE AND WHITE ‘KORANIC-
VERSE’ QUATREFOIL BOX AND COVER
ZHENGDE SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A
DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1506-1521)
The cover is painted to the top with a square cartouche enclosing a
rhombus inscribed inside with an Arabic or Persian script denoting
one of the 99 names of Allah, encircled by four detached ruyi-
scrolls; the sides with a band of separate ruyi clouds. The box is
decorated to the sides with a row of bosses, above the stepped base
decorated with a ruyi-scroll.
4 º in. (10.8 cm.) diam., box
HK$300,000-500,000 US$39,000-65,000
PROVENANCE
A Japanese private collection
明正德 青花回回文海棠式蓋盒
雙圈六字楷書款
來源
日本私人收藏
Boxes of this type are very rare, with only a few known in international
collections. Indeed, only one other box of this lobed form appears to
be known. A box of the same shape, and with identical treatment
of the sides of the lid and base, as well as the top of the lid, is in the
collection of the National Museum of China (illustrated in Studies of the
Collections of the National Museum of China, Ming Porcelain, Shanghai,
2007, pl. 64) (fig. 1). The majority of the inscriptions in Arabic are
religious or philosophical in content and many of these are quotations
from the Qur’an, like that on the table screen in the collection of Sir
Percival David, the inscription on which comes from Surat al Jinn (LXXII)
(illustrated by R. Scott in Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration –
Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, p. 70, no. 68).
The inscription on the current box gives one of the 99 names of Allah.
A number of other inscriptions are secular and either indicate use, such
as ‘pen rest’, or are mottoes, such as ‘Strive for excellence in penmanship,
for it is one of the keys of livelihood.’ The secular inscriptions may be in
either Arabic or Persian, but are mostly composed in the latter.
228
The decoration on the current box is characteristic of the porcelains
bearing Arabic or Persian inscriptions, although boxes are rare. It is
interesting to note that the neatly painted scrolls which surround the
square panel on the top of the lid of the current box are of identical
form to those which surround the square inscription panel on the David
table screen, mentioned above. The treatment of the foot of the box
with carefully conceived scrolls is also typical of fine Zhengde wares,
since it is painted in such a way as to suggest that the box stands on
feet, rather than a solid base – thereby lightening the visual impression
of a stable object with a low centre of gravity. This treatment of a solid
base can be seen on many inscribed scholar’s objects in this period,
including a pen box with cover, and an ink slab and cover in the British
Museum (see J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum,
London, 2000, pp. 194-195, nos. 8:5 and 8:6).
The combination of the bold dots on the sides of the base of the
box, and the larger bean-shaped elements on the sides of the lid is
effective and not unexpected. The same combination of elements
can be seen around the neck of a Zhengde tripod censer formerly in
the Eumorfopoulos Collection, and illustrated by R.L. Hobson in The
Eumorfopoulos Collction, London, 1925-28, D. 20. Similar bold dots can
also be seen on the legs of a Zhengde saucer for a holy water bowl in
the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated in Underglaze
Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (II), The Complete
Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, p.
86, no. 80). The scroll elements on the collar just above the legs of the
saucer form an outline of the same shape as the bean-shaped motifs
on the current box.
The fact that this Zhengde box is lobed adds to its rarity, and the
quality of the porcelain, the cobalt blue and the painting all suggest
that it may have been made specifically for one of the powerful Muslim
court eunuchs, although the emperor himself was also drawn towards
foreign scripts and an eastern Turkish merchant who visited China in
the early 16th century suggested that the emperor may have converted
to Islam. This, however, is not confirmed by any Chinese sources.
fig. 1 Collection of the National Museum of China
圖一 中國國家博物館藏品