A very rare doucai 'floral' bowl and cover, Marks and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正　鬪彩花蝶紋天雞鈕合盌　《大清雍正年製》款

Collection of K.R. Malcolm.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26th November 1980, lot 379.

Collection of the Yuen family.

Christie's Hong Kong, 30th April 2000, lot 592.

Arts of the Ch’ing Dynasty, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1964, cat. no. 199.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong – Twenty Years, 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 266.

A time-honoured form transformed into something immediate and alive, the present bowl is a remarkable jewel of the Yongzheng period. Its familiar silhouette rooted in imperial precedent but revived with a vibrant doucai design, the present bowl is far more than a vessel; it tells the story of Yongzheng innovation and an enduring respect for antiquity.

The fluted form and domed cover of the present bowl are directly inspired by fifteenth century imperial porcelains. Compare, for example, two blue-and-white examples of Xuande mark and period (1426-1435) decorated with lotus designs in the Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Minji meihin zuroku [Illustrated catalogue of Ming dynasty porcelain in the Palace Museum], vol. I, Tokyo, 1977, pls 70 and 71; and two further examples with dragon designs in copper-red and iron-red respectively, loc. cit., 93 and 94. 

Renowned antiquarians, the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1723-1734) and his kiln supervisor Tang Ying (1682-1756) frequently turned to designs from antiquity and past dynasties as the basis for new imperial wares. However, while its form may trace its origins to the Ming, the present bowl is far from a mere relic of the past. With vibrant jewel-like enamelling in the doucai palette, the bowl and cover are awash with vibrant garden scenes, bursting with life, in a design variation unique to the Yongzheng reign. Similarly, while ironically inspired by zoomorphic bronzeware from antiquity, the present finial adds a layer of dimensionality and poise to the overall form, unprecedented in Ming prototypes.

Related examples of this archaistic shape and bright doucai decoration are rare. Compare another covered bowl of this design preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 200, pl. 29; another from the Gulland Bequest to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession no. 635&A-1907), illustrated in John Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, col. pl. 62; and another offered at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31st May 2010, lot 1875. Another bowl of this design, now without a matching cover, was sold from the Liddell Collection at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th April 2002, lot 621; and another, similarly uncovered, at Christie’s New York, 19th March 2009, lot 558.

Other examples of this covered form are more commonly attested covered with monochrome glazes, including those glazed in blue monochrome, such as one sold in these rooms, 5th April 2017, lot 3632; others decorated in white slip with fish against a blue ground, including one in the Honolulu Academy of Arts, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu / Catalogue of World’s Ceramics, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1956, pl. 56; and others in yellow monochrome with incised dragon and cloud designs, including one in The Ceramic Art of China, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1971, cat. no. 244, later sold at Christie’s London, 15th July 1981, lot 44.

來源

K.R. Malcolm 收藏

香港蘇富比1980年11月26日，編號379

袁氏家族收藏

香港佳士得2000年4月30日，編號592

展覽

《Arts of the Ch’ing Dynasty》，東方陶瓷學會，倫敦，1964年，編號199

出版

《香港蘇富比二十周年》，香港， 1993年，圖版266

此盌依古制煥新姿，恬雅靈動，誠為雍正朝瑰寶。其形承襲御窰舊式，以鬪彩繪飾，推陳出新，所成非徒一器，實寓雍正革創之意，兼昭清帝慕古之心。

盌身寬闊，平底折腰，深壁侈口，帶拱頂蓋，此乃取法自十五世紀御瓷。比宣德青花二例，蓮紋為飾，藏台北故宮，錄《明磁名品図録》，卷一，東京，1977年，圖版70及71；再比二例，分別以釉裏紅、礬紅作龍紋，見前述出處，圖版93及94。

雍正帝（1723-1734年在位）博古尚雅，在其治下，督陶官唐英（1682-1756年）頻取歷代遺範創燒新瓷。本合盌雖溯源於明，卻非故物重現。鬪彩設色瑰美，於盌、蓋通體繪飾園林景緻，生機盎然，乃雍正朝獨創。蓋鈕取形自古銅器瑞獸配件，為合盌平添挺拔，亦為明代藍本所未見。

採合盌古制為形又施明豔鬪彩作飾者頗罕。北京故宮藏有一例，錄《故宮珍藏康雍乾瓷器圖錄》，香港，1989年，頁200，圖版29；及一例，Gulland遺贈，藏維多利亞與艾爾伯特博物館（藏品編號635&A-1907），載John Ayers，《Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum》，倫敦，1980年，彩圖62。另比市場所見一例，上拍於香港佳士得2010年5月31日，編號1875；再一例，Liddell舊藏，配蓋已佚，售於香港佳士得2002年4月29日，編號621；及一例，亦失配蓋，售於紐約佳士得2009年3月19日，編號558。

同採合盌形制者，多施單色釉，如霽藍釉，可比一例，售於香港蘇富比2017年4月5日，編號3632；亦見藍地堆白花作魚紋者，如檀香山藝術學院所藏一例，載《世界陶磁全集》，卷12，東京，1956年，圖版56；復有黃釉暗刻雲龍紋者，如一例，錄《The Ceramic Art of China》，東方陶瓷學會，倫敦，1971年，編號244，後售於倫敦佳士得1981年7月15日，編號44。