Page 31 - Thornton Collection Chiense Ceramics HK Nov 2017

fig. 1 A fine and rare famille rose ‘poppy’ bowl,
Yongzheng mark and period
Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, Elegance and Artistry: Treasures from a Private Collection, 27 May 2008, lot 1526
It is notable that extant smaller Yongzheng bowls decorated with
poppies do not have this guozhihua decoration, but instead have
scattered petals, nuts and fruit on their interiors. Indeed, two
significantly smaller Yongzheng bowls with this type of poppy
decoration on the exterior, but with scattered seeds, fruit and petals
on the interior, are in the collection of Sir Percival David Foundation, also usually bear Yongzheng six-character marks within a double
London. While the current bowls have a diameter of 13.4 cm., the
David Collection bowls have diameters of 9.1 and 9.3 cm. The latter
bowls appear in Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares in the
Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, Revised Edition, London,
1991, pp. 25 and 41, nos. PDF 821 and 878, with a black and white
illustration of PDF 821. PDF 878 is illustrated in colour by Rosemary
Scott in Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration – Four Dynasties
of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London and Singapore, 1992, p. 138, no. 157.
PDF 821, which has gently flaring sides and a barely everted rim, has
a six-character Yongzheng mark in underglaze blue within a double
circle, while PDF 878, which has more typically rounded sides, has
a six-character Yongzheng mark in underglaze blue within a single
circle. A bowl from the Robert Chang collection, of similar size, shape
and design to the second David Collection bowl was sold by Christie’s
Hong Kong 31 October, 2000, lot 808, and again by Christie’s Hong
Kong 27 May 2008, lot 1526 (fig. 1). An identical pair of small bowls
was sold by Christie’s Hong Kong 3 November 1998, lot 961.
The only larger Yongzheng poppy bowl, comparable to the current
bowls, which appears to have been published, is in the collection
of the British Museum, London (fig. 2). This bowl was donated
to the British Museum in 1927 by the Oscar Charles Raphael
(1874 – 1941). The diameter of the Raphael bowl is 13.5 cm. It
is significant that, like the current bowls, the Raphael bowl has a
six-character Yongzheng mark in underglaze blue within a double
square on its base. This unusual feature is found on one other group
of imperial Yongzheng famille rose porcelains. The finest and most
delicate of the Yongzheng peach dishes with guozhihua decoration
square. It seems probable that this was a deliberate reference to the
highly esteemed imperial doucai wares of the Chenghua reign, which
at the height of their production, in the latter part of the reign, bore
six-character reign marks within double squares – similar in style to
those on the current bowls and the British Museum bowl.
Both the current bowls are decorated with a naturalistic combination
of red, pink and white, pink-tipped, poppies with leaves and buds.
The extraordinary delicacy and detailed nature of the painting of
these flowers is shown with especial clarity in the way that the stems
and the pendant buds have been covered in tiny hairs. The petals
of the red poppies provide examples of the finest painting in iron-
red overglaze enamel seen on any imperial famille rose porcelains.
The enamel itself has been meticulously prepared, and the painter
has applied it in such a way as to achieve delicately shaded colour
and the impression of paper-thin petals translucent in the sunlight.
The pink and white, pink-tipped, flowers display different, but
equally skilled use of finely prepared enamels. On these the ceramic
decorator has made full use of the famille rose palette to achieve great
subtlety in colour and texture. Layering and mixing of pink, white,
yellow and pale green enamels creates both naturalism of colour and
a sense of the volume of the curling petals. The painter has not only
painted the thread-like veins on some petals in a slightly darker pink
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