Page 31 - 2020 October 8 HK Fine Classical Paintings

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A VERY RARE BLUE AND WHITE ‘BAJIXIANG’ 明成化 青花纏枝蓮托八吉祥紋盤

DISH 《大明成化年製》款
MARK AND PERIOD OF CHENGHUA
the interior centred with the Wheel of the Law supported on a 來源：
lotus bloom issuing further scrolls encircling the emblems, the 吳賚熙（約1870-1950年）收藏
cavetto with the remaining seven emblems, each resting on a 倫敦蘇富比1937年5月26日，編號26
lotus bloom borne on a continuous scroll, the exterior painted Sydney L. Moss，倫敦，1938年（£15）
with a frieze of the eight emblems above a floral frieze around
the foot, the base with a six-character reign mark within a 里埃斯科收藏，編號176
double circle 香港佳士得2013年11月27日，編號3112
19.1 cm, 7½ in.
出版：
PROVENANCE 《Riesco Collection of Chinese Ceramics Handlist》，
Collection of Wu Lai-hsi (c.1870-1950). Croydon，1987年，頁11，編號91
Sotheby’s London, 26th May 1937, lot 26.
Sydney L. Moss, London, 1938 (£15).
Raymond FA Riesco collection, no. 176.
Christie’s Hong Kong, 27th November 2013, lot 3112.
LITERATURE
Riesco Collection of Chinese Ceramics Handlist, Croydon, 1987,
p. 11, no. 91.

HK$ 800,000-1,000,000
US$ 104,000-130,000

Chenghua porcelains, considered among the most The Chenghua bajixiang dish is also known in another version;
idiosyncratic and distinct creations of the imperial kilns at similarly decorated on the interior with seven Buddhist
Jingdezhen, are perhaps the most highly sought after of all Emblems circling the Wheel of Law in the centre, but the
Chinese imperial porcelains. Their porcelain body and glaze exterior painted with lotus sprays instead. Compare a dish in
are arguably the finest that have ever been created, imbuing the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue
each piece with an outstanding tactile quality, while their of the Special Exhibition of Ch’eng-Hua Porcelain Ware, Taipei,
unobtrusive yet sophisticated designs are executed in a 2003, cat. no. 24; and another inscribed with a reign mark
captivating, complex and yet free and easy painting manner. enclosed within a double square, excavated from the Ming
The present dish is a particularly rare and unusual example imperial kiln sites at Jingdezhen and exhibited in Imperial
of Chenghua ware. There are only three other similar dishes Porcelain: Recent Discoveries of Jingdezhen Ware, Museum of
in public museums that appear to have been published. An Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1995, cat. no. 120.
almost identical dish from the collection of Sir Percival David is The motif and the painting style of the present dish closely
now in the British Museum, London, no. PDF,B.627, published follow that of the Xuande reign. During the Chenghua period,
in Stacey Pierson, Illustrated Catalogue of Underglaze Blue Xuande blue and white porcelain were considered to be the
and Copper Red Decorated Porcelains in the Percival David finest ever produced and thus served as inspiration. Compare
Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 2004, p. 82, no. B627. a Xuande blue and white jar similarly painted with a continuous
Another example is preserved in the Shanghai Museum, lotus scroll, each of the blooms supporting a Buddhist
illustrated in Lu Minghua, Shanghai Bowuguan zangpin yanjiu Emblem, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing,
daxi / Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections: A Series of illustrated in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang
Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Ming chu qinghua ci [Early Ming blue and white porcelain in the
Shanghai, 2007, pl. 4-20. The third example, from the Eugene Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, vol. 2, pl. 107; and also a bowl
Fuller Memorial Collection, is in the Seattle Art Museum, no. and cover, formerly in the collections of Edward T. Chow and
51.85. T.Y. Chao, sold in these rooms, 3rd October 2017, lot 3301.

Mark

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