Page 40 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong Sotheby's April 2017

PRIDE OF THE POTTER,
AMBITION OF THE PAINTER
REGINA KRAHL
The abstract nature of the ‘gothic’ rosettes on this and similar Subtler stylistic differences and their presumed significance
flasks must have seemed revolutionary, when the imperial
kilns first came up with this design in the Yongle period (1403- Drake, published in 1961 (op.cit.), by comparing several flasks
24), and although similar interlaced motifs were also used on
contemporary blue-and-white bowls, they stand out among the
more typically nature-oriented designs of that reign.
The complexity of this motif becomes apparent only when
following the individual lines, which alternately pass over
or under each other according to a very strict pattern, and
thus form a perfectly interlaced three-dimensional unity. The
mastery of the porcelain painters executing this design with a
brush is as admirable as is that of the potters assembling this
form from horizontally aligned sections; but as they were all
working to direct orders from the court, the imperial craftsmen
were not easily discouraged by challenges. While both its form
and main design are foreign, this flask represents one of the
classic styles of Yongle imperial porcelain. The only concession clearly with the white body, both being emphasised by a
to Chinese taste are the narrow floral border of delicate
carnations and asters around the neck and the pretty floral
sprays on the handles, which owe nothing to foreign inspiration
and seem designed to soften the strict formality of the main
design.
Flasks of this type come in two somewhat different shapes, in
different sizes, with two different rosette designs, and either
unmarked or with Xuande reign mark (1426-35). While the
present type, of taller form and with a more elongated bulb,
is more often unmarked and may represent the earlier Yongle
version, smaller flasks with a more pronounced pear-shaped
bulb are more frequently found with a Xuande reign mark and
probably represent the later form. However, both shapes come
with and without reign mark and were probably made in both
periods.
for dating were discussed in an article by E.T. Chow and F.S.
from the Percival David Foundation and from the collection
of Edward T. Chow. The present flask, then in the possession
of Edward T. Chow, was included as a classic example of the
earlier style, attributed to the Yongle period. Chow and Drake
pointed out many differences in material, shape, design,
and painting style, through which the two periods can be
distinguished and unequivocally came down on the side of the
earlier, Yongle, version as being more graceful in form, more
careful in its painting manner, and more intense in colour.
Their judgment is indeed beautifully exemplified by the present
piece, where the superimposed bands of the rosettes are
carefully interlaced, and the blue – characterised by Chow and
Drake as “particularly fine” – is unusually vivid, contrasting
very glossy glaze. On later examples, it is noticeable that
the painters no longer concentrated on the way the lines are
interwoven, thus creating a flat two-dimensional design that
could be completed much more quickly. Chow and Drake also
mention that on the later shape the foot was slightly adjusted,
probably in order to make the flask stand more securely,
but to the detriment of “aesthetic value” and consider the
“harmonious roundness” of the earlier shape “a source of
great aesthetic enjoyment”, which “seems to mark an original
creative act or inspiration”.
This double-handled, oval-sectioned shape is probably derived
from pottery vessels that can ultimately be traced to the 18th
Dynasty of Egypt (c.1543–1292 BC), but continued to be
popular there for centuries. Examples from 6th/7th century
Roman Egypt were known as St Menas flasks since, filled