Page 74 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong Sotheby's April 2017

fig. 1
Blue and white ‘seven lions and balls’ bowl, Ming dynasty,
Chenghua period, apocryphal Xuande mark
© Jingdezhen Ceramics Archaeology Institute

圖一

明成化 青花七獅戲球紋盌 《大明宣德年製》仿款

© 景德鎮陶瓷考古研究所

Chenghua porcelains, considered among the A similar motif of Buddhist lions is also known 成窰之品，獨闢蹊徑，在景德鎮御製瓷器中，
most idiosyncratic and distinct creations of the on a Chenghua mark and period dish, included 鶴立雞群，世人蒐求若渴。若論胎釉，可謂無
imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, are perhaps the in the exhibition The Emperor’s Broken china, 出其右，成品皆質感卓絕，器身繪飾恬淡柔
most highly sought after of all Chinese imperial Sotheby’s London, 1995, cat. no. 93, together 雅，筆觸秀逸，引人入勝。
porcelains. Their porcelain body and glaze are with a reconstructed ewer also painted with
arguably the finest that have ever been created, lions, cat. no. 48; and another dish, exhibited in 然此成化盌尤為珍罕，相類盌者僅見一例出
imbuing each piece with an outstanding tactile A Legacy of Chenghua, op.cit., pl. B26, together 版，屬御窰廢址出土，刊於《成窰遺珍：景德
quality, while their unobtrusive yet sophisticated with a stem cup, cat. no. A8, and a box, cat. no. 鎮珠山出土成化官窰瓷器》，徐氏藝術館，香
designs are executed in a captivating, complex C48. For another Xuande-marked Chenghua blue 港，1993年，編號A11。據指，該例及其他
and yet free and easy painting manner. and white decorated bowl, see one painted with a 樣式、落款相類之盌盤殘片，一同出土於成化
lotus scroll included ibid., cat. no. C71. 初年第87號堆積（頁52）。江建新指，該出
The present piece is a particularly rare and 土盌例「為目前所知的後一時代書寫前代年款
unusual example of Chenghua ware. Only one The motif of lions playing with beribboned balls 的最早實例，它開啟了後世仿寫前代年款的先
other closely related bowl appears to have been is well known from early 15th century porcelain, 河」，此做法後朝方見廣泛採用（頁110）。
published, unearthed from the waste heaps such as a jar with Xuande mark and of the period
of the imperial kilns, included in the exhibition in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, illustrated in 此盌紋飾及率意畫風承宣德風範，亦吻合其成
A Legacy of Chenghua. Imperial Porcelain of Lu Minghua, Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial 化初年之斷代。成化一朝，以宣德青花為模
the Chenghua Reign Excavated from Zhushan, porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 1-32; and a dish 範，故猶以借鑒。本品盌底著仿款，或藉此
Jingdezhen, The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included 述其靈感所出，並表對先朝成就之尊崇，更顯
1993, cat. no. A11, where it is noted that this in the Museum’s exhibition Ming Xuande ciqi 對宣德瓷之青睞。此盌雖似宣德，然其鈷青流
piece and other fragments of bowls and dishes tezhan mulu [Special exhibition of Xuande wares], 暢，且無黑疵，乃典型成化初年青花特徵。
of this design and mark were excavated at the Taipei, 1980, cat. no. 59. It carries auspicious
early Chenghua accumulation no. 87 (see p. 52). associations symbolising physical and spiritual 相類佛獅紋例，可比一成化年款盤，見展覽圖
Jiang Jianxin adds that the excavated bowl ‘is the power and conveying wishes for high rank. 錄《The Emperor’s Broken china》，蘇富
earliest known example where the reign mark of 比，倫敦，1995年，編號93，同錄一壺，經
a previous era has been inscribed on a piece of 修，亦繪獅紋，編號48。另比較一盤，載於
imperial porcelain,’ a practice that only became 《成窰遺珍：景德鎮珠山出土成化官窰瓷器》
widely employed in later periods (p. 110). ，前述出處，圖版B26，同載高足盃，編號A8
，及一盒，編號C48。仍可比宣德款成化青花
The motif and its bold painterly style of the 盌例，繪纏枝蓮紋，出處同上，編號C71。
present bowl, closely following that of the Xuande
reign, also support an early Chenghua date. 獅子戲球紋多見諸十五世紀初之瓷器，例如一
During the Chenghua period, Xuande blue and 宣德朝罐，落宣德款，上海博物館藏，圖見陸
white porcelain was considered to be the finest 明華，《上海博物館藏品研究大系：明代官窰
ever produced and thus served as inspiration. 瓷器》，上海，2007年，圖版1-32。另見一
The apocryphal mark on the base of this bowl, 盤，台北故宮博物院藏，刊於《明宣德瓷器特
probably to honour the great accomplishments 展目錄》，台北，1980年，編號59。此紋寓
during the earlier reign and to acknowledge 意吉祥，彰顯威武莊嚴，頌祝官高爵顯。
the borrowing of the design, further reveals the
appreciation of Xuande porcelain. Despite these
similarities with Xuande wares, the cobalt of the
present bowl is typical of early Chenghua blue
and white wares in its fluidity and lack of heaping
and piling.

72 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比