An extremely rare blue and white 'lotus' bowl, Mark and period of Xuande | 明宣德　青花纏枝蓮紋盌　《大明宣德年製》款

Christie's Tokyo, 16th/17th February 1980, lot 784.

A Japanese private collection.

Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

5th Anniversary Exhibition. All-Stars of the Okada Collection: Masterworks of Korin, Jakuchu, Hokusai and the Ru Ware Kilns, Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2018-19, exh. no. 68 (unillustrated).

Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 1, Tokyo, 2013, no. 24.

Boldly painted in vibrant shades of cobalt blue, this elegantly shaped bowl carries the essence of Xuande period aesthetics. Bold, yet finely detailed, the remarkable decoration splendidly contrasts with the lustrous glaze and the formal style of the floral scroll is juxtaposed against the freely executed dot-florets, a motif dating back to the Yongle period. This exceptional quality of painting, characteristic of the best of the Xuande period, was later emulated, but never equalled. Post-Xuande depictions of similar flower scrolls became more stylised and lost the intensity of the blue.

Bowls of this design are very rare, with few examples preserved in museum collections, including two in the Taipei Palace Museum, illustrated in A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the Palace Museum, Hsuan-te Ware I, Taipei, 2000, pls 77 and 78, one in the Beijing Palace Museum and illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 152; and one in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 131. For examples sold at auction, see one sold in our London rooms, 16th June 1939, lot 74, and another two sold in these rooms, 5th November 1996, lot 746 and 2nd May 2005, lot 505 respectively.

Similar bowls are more often found with a lotus design and decorated key-fret and lappet borders, such as those portrayed on the Guwan tu (‘Scroll of antiquities’) made during the Yongzheng period and dated to 1728, now preserved in the Percival David Foundation in London, and one from the Tianminlou collection, sold in these rooms, 2nd April 2019, lot 6.

來源

東京佳士得1980年2月16至17日，編號784

日本私人收藏

壺中居，東京

展覽

《開館5周年記念展―美のスターたち―光琳．若冲．北斎．汝窯など名品勢ぞろい》， 岡田美術館，箱根，2018-19年，展覽編號68（沒載圖）

出版

小林忠編，《岡田美術館名品撰》，卷1，東京，2013年，編號24

此盌器形典雅，釉下青花以濃豔鈷藍大膽揮灑，盡顯宣德美學精髓。紋飾雖豪放卻不失精微細節，瑰麗裝飾與瑩潤釉色相映生輝，規整的纏枝花卉紋樣與自由揮灑的點蕊紋飾形成巧妙對比，此點蕊技法可上溯至永樂時期。此等卓越繪畫品質乃宣德巔峰之特徵，後世雖有仿效，然未可企及。

此類盌傳世極罕，館藏他例寥寥可數，其中包括台北故宮博物院藏兩例，圖見《故宮藏瓷：宣德瓷器（一）》，台北，2000年，圖版77及78；北京故宮博物院藏一例，圖見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：青花釉裡紅（一）》，上海，2000年，圖版152；另上海博物館藏一例，圖見汪慶正，《青花釉裏紅》，香港，1987年，圖版131。拍賣市場所見之例，可參考一盌售於倫敦蘇富比，1939年6月16日，編號74；另有兩例先後售於香港蘇富比：1996年11月5日，編號746；及2005年5月2日，編號505。

同類盌器多飾以蓮紋，並輔以回紋及垂瓣紋邊飾，例如大維德基金會藏雍正年間（1728年）繪製之《古玩圖》卷中所繪盌式。以及天民樓舊藏一盌，售於香港蘇富比，2019年4月2日，編號6。