An incised yellow-ground green-enamelled 'dragon' bowl, Mark and period of Jiajing | 明嘉靖　黃地綠彩趕珠龍紋盌　《大明嘉靖年製》款

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 13th November 1990, lot 147.

The present bowl represents a pivotal moment in the Ming dynasty revival of the sancai (‘three colour’) palette. Initially developed in the Tang dynasty (618–907), the sancai palette of brown, yellow and green was first embraced out of necessity with most other glaze colours still yet to be developed in China. By the Jiajing reign, however, the embrace of this bold colour scheme was something quite different— turning to the past for inspiration but reinterpreting the colour scheme with a fresh sixteenth century flair, the present bowl exemplifies the creativity and skill of Ming potters in reappropriating the visual language of the past for new imperial patrons.

Compare a prototypical bowl of closely related design rendered in trailed slip, preserved in the British Museum, London (accession no. 1926,1124.1), illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pl. 8:31, in which the author attributes the ‘Phags-pa inscription to its base to the Zhengde period (1506–1521); and other Jiajing bowls of this design, including one from the collections of Sir Frank A. Swettenham and K. R. Malcolm, illustrated in Soame Jenyns, Ming Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1953, pl. 90A, and rev. ed. 1988, pl. 169; a second in the Haags Gemeentemuseum, illustrated in Béatrice Janesen, Chinese ceramiek, Lochem, 1976, cat. no. 317; a third from the Edward T. Chow Collection, sold in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 38, and again from the collection of T.Y. Chao, 19th May 1987, lot 259; and a fourth included in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. II, London, 1994, pl. 696.

來源

香港蘇富比1990年11月13日，編號147

黃地綠彩龍紋盌，展現明代瓷史上復燒三彩的關鍵時刻。始於大唐，「三彩」以褐、黃、綠彩為骨，發展上領先後朝眾多釉彩。嘉靖朝，對於三彩之詮釋卻是截然不同，融古匯今，呈現耳目一新的十六世紀風格，即如本品，運用如此創新與技術，汲取傳統美學元素，打造新御瓷風格，以悅君心。

比較此類紋飾雛本，倫敦大英博物館藏明代黃地綠彩龍紋盌（館藏編號：1926,1124.1），錄於霍吉淑，《Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum》，倫敦，2001年，圖版8:31，書八思巴文年款，斷代正德朝。嘉靖類例，如 Frank A. Swettenham 爵士、K. R. Malcolm 遞藏一盌，刊於 Soame Jenyns，《Ming Pottery and Porcelain》，倫敦，1953年，圖版90A，及1988年再版，圖版169。另一例藏於海牙美術館，載於 Béatrice Janesen，《Chinese ceramiek》，洛赫姆，1976年，編號317。仇焱之舊藏一例，1980年11月25日售於香港蘇富比，編號38，後為趙從衍珍藏，再度售於香港蘇富比，1987年5月19日，編號259；第四例出版於康蕊君，《玫茵堂藏中國陶瓷》，卷2, 倫敦，1994年，圖版696。