Page 34 - Bonhams NYC Chinese works of Art March 2019

Attributed to Li Anzhong (active 1119-1162), Ye ju qiu guo (Wild Chrysanthemums and Autumn Quail), National Palace Museum, Taipei
宋 李安忠 (傳) 《野菊秋鶉圖》台北故宮博物院藏

The exquisite pair of ‘quail’ bowls, from the collection of Virginia “Ella” present lot in the brown and ochre enamelling of the quail. On
Hobart (1876-1958), and thence by descent, was acquired by Virginia the list of newly developed enamels submitted to the Yongzheng
Hobart in the early 20th century. Virginia Hobart became an heiress emperor by Prince Yi in 1728, black and dark brown enamels were
in 1892 when, with her two siblings, she inherited her father’s fortune both listed, indicating that the artists in the imperial ateliers already
from timber and silver mining. In 1913-1914 Virginia and her husband had the required material at their disposal to produce such enamels
Charles Baldwin traveled to China and Japan, returning in time to on porcelain. See a related falangcai ‘quail’ decorated bowl and a
attend the Pan-Pacific exhibition in San Francisco in 1915. In her letter teapot and cover, Yongzheng four-character blue-enamelled marks
to her son, dated January 29, 1913, she writes with great enthusiasm and period, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated by
of meeting the famed dealer Sadajiro Yamanaka in Kyoto and another Chen Kuo-Tung, Yu Pei-Chin and Wang Chu-Ping, Porcelain with
Chinese porcelain dealer in Tokyo the day before. Following Charles’s Painted Enamels of Qing Yongzheng Period (1723-1735), Taipei,
death in 1936, Virginia sold Claremont mansion in Colorado Springs, 2013, nos. 81 and 88. The falangcai palette and manner of painting
Colorado, which was built after the style of Versailles, and relocated to was influenced by the Jesuit painters in the court, such as Giuseppe
San Francisco. Castiglione (1688-1766), known as Lang Shining; see for example
the treatment and coloring of the feathers of a sparrow in the painting
The exceptionally rare pair of bowls epitomize the very finest Imperial titled ‘Chrysanthemums’ in the album Immortal Blossoms in an
porcelain of the Yongzheng reign renowned for its innovative design, Everlasting Spring, which is considered to be a masterpiece dating
unsurpassed elegance and exquisite artistry. They are particularly rare to the Yongzheng reign, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei; see
in two aspects: firstly, in the design incorporating chrysanthemums Portrayals from a Brush Divine: A Special Exhibition of the Tricentennial
rather than prunus and nandina, therefore symbolizing Autumn rather of Giuseppe Castiglione’s Arrival in China, Taipei, 2015, no. II-01 and
than Spring; and in the continuous decoration over the rim and onto fig. 16. Compare also the speckled ground on the bowls and that
the interior, in a technique known as guoqiangzhi rather than retaining which can be seen in a detail of Castiglione’s painting of flowers of the
a plain undecorated interior. four seasons painted on a chess board, also showing the combination
of red and yellow chrysanthemum blossoms, illustrated ibid., no. I-11.
The palette of the superbly painted and enamelled bowls can be
described as a combination of falangcai and fencai; the former,
translating as ‘foreign colors’, and the latter corresponding to the
‘famille rose’ pallette. The falangcai enamels are apparent on the

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