Page 85 - Bonham's Asian Art London November 2015

208 † Doucai, or ‘combined colours’, is a twice-fired decorative technique
A RARE DOUCAI JARDINIÈRE of outlining the design in underglaze blue before embellishing it with
Kangxi/Yongzheng overglaze enamels. Originating during the reign of Xuande, in the
The elegantly potted vessel painted and enamelled to the exterior with early Ming Dynasty, the technique reached a peak of perfection in the
two auspicious figurative scenes enclosed in rectangular panels, the subsequent Chenghua reign. Perhaps in reverence of past glories,
first with an official being offered an elaborate headpiece on a platter, doucai was revitalised sometime in the first quarter of the 18th
the second with another official observing three fruits placed before century during the Qing Dynasty and is most famously associated
him, each panel separated with a stylised shou character. with the marked wares for the Yongzheng emperor. The present lot
26.5cm (10 1/2in) wide is a very early example dating from the late Kangxi era and exhibits
figural scenes often seen on blue and white brushpots of this period.
£10,000 - 12,000 Attendants offer two officials a tripod vessel, jue, and three fruits, both
CNY97,000 - 120,000 suggesting through word play that a promotion has been granted. In
HK$120,000 - 140,000 between each panel are stylised ‘shou’ characters, again forming a
rebus of good wishes to the beholder.
Compare with a doucai brushpot, Kangxi, with identical scenes and
decoration in Kangxi Porcelain Ware from the Shanghai Museum
Collection, Shanghai 1998, p. 277, no. 181. See another jardinière,
Kangxi, of slightly squatter proportions but with similar decoration sold
in Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 16 November 1988, lot 359.

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