Page 56 - March 23, 2022 Sotheby's NYC Fine Chinese Works of Art

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CHINESE CERAMICS: A PRIVATE COLLECTION decoration is referred to as ‘underglaze three-colour’, p. 32;
AN UNDERGLAZE BLUE, COPPER RED AND one in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, included in Kangxi
CELADON-GLAZED ‘LANDSCAPE’ BRUSHPOT Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong
Kong, 1998, pl. 87; and two sold in our London rooms, the
MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI first, 20th April 1971, lot 64, and the second, 27th July 1971,
the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue lot 132.
Diameter 7 in., 17.8 cm
$ 30,000-50,000
EXHIBITED
Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Collection of 清康熙 釉裏三彩孤帆獨釣圖筆筒
the Kau Chi Society of Chinese Art, Art Gallery, The Chinese
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1981, cat. no. 151. 《大清康熙年製》款
The potter’s ability to successfully fire underglaze blue, 展覽
copper red and celadon on this brushpot is an exceptional 《求知雅集珍藏•中國古陶瓷展》，香港中文大學文
achievement. The design was carved and incised into the
body which served both an aesthetic and technical purpose 物館，香港，1981年，編號151
to prevent the pigments from mixing into each other during
firing. Copper-red was notoriously difficult to control, thus
the addition of celadon glaze adds to the complexity of the
firing and the rarity of vessels decorated in this palette.
Related brushpots, also inscribed with Kangxi reign marks
and of the period, include one in the National Palace
Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Gugong cangci / Porcelain
of the National Palace Museum: Enameled Ware of the
Qing Dynasty (Book I), Hong Kong, 1969, pl. 1, where the

257

CHINESE CERAMICS: A PRIVATE COLLECTION Compare also larger examples of this type with plain rims,
A PAIR OF SMALL FAMILLE-VERTE ‘BIRTHDAY’ one with a similar scene of attendants carrying a ewer and a
DISHES jue, sold first at Christie’s New York, 2nd December 1993, lot
293, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 1st November 1994,
MARKS AND PERIOD OF KANGXI lot 63; and another sold in these rooms, 15th September
the base of each with a six-character mark in underglaze blue 1999, lot 87.
within a double circle (2)
Diameter 4⅜ in., 12 cm $ 8,000-12,000

PROVENANCE 清康熙 五彩仙女祝壽紋小盤一對
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 28th-29th November 1978, lot 301.
Collection of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999). 《大清康熙年製》款
Christie’s Hong Kong, 17th January 1989, lot 663.
來源
The present pair represents a rare variation of a group
of finely potted and painted ‘birthday’ dishes, featuring 香港蘇富比1978年11月28至29日，編號301
auspicious themes of longevity, made at the imperial kilns 趙從衍 (1912-1999) 收藏
in Jingdezhen most likely to commemorate the Kangxi 香港佳士得1989年1月17日，編號663
Emperor’s sixtieth birthday in 1713. Among this superlative
group of wares, dishes of similar diminutive size with foliate
rims are exceptionally rare, with no other published examples
known. Related dishes depicting pairs of beauties holding
offerings, but of larger size and with straight rims, include
one in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, illustrated in
The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection, Cleveland, 1990,
pl. 70; and a second example, formerly in the Elphinstone
Collection, now on loan from the Percival David Foundation
of Chinese Art to the British Museum, London, included in
the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch’ing Enamelled Wares, London,
1973, pl. 890; and a pair in the Museum für Ostasiatische
Kunst, Cologne, published in Porzellanschätze der Kangxi-
Zeit / Porcelain Treasures of the Kangxi Period, Hetjens
Deutsches Keramikmuseum, Dusseldorf, 2015, pls 7 and 8.

108 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10917 109