A fine and rare coral-ground famille-verte 'peony' bowl, Yongzheng yuzhi mark and period | 清雍正 珊瑚紅地五彩牡丹紋盌 《雍正御製》款

Japanese Private Collection (by repute).

來源

日本私人收藏 (傳)

From the Kangxi period, dark-colored grounds adorned with vibrant polychrome floral designs were favored for their dramatic demonstration of the newly developed falangcai enamels at the Palace Workshops in Beijing. The form and colors of this bowl are typical of the porcelain produced in the early Yongzheng period at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen and continue in the style pioneered by craftsmen of the Kangxi period in imitation of those produced at Beijing. Such bowls were made for the use of the Yongzheng Emperor, as indicated by the Yongzheng yuzhi mark.

Bowls of this form and decoration are rare; see two closely related examples, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition Porcelain with Painted Enamels of Qing Yongzheng period (1723-1735), 2013, cat. no. 020. The color scheme and design of this piece is related to Yongzheng yuzhi marked bowls of shallower form, see two of shallower form with related design and color scheme, ibid., cat. nos 18 and 19. Two additional shallow bowls, in the Chang Foundation, are published in Selected Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 142. Compare also a slightly larger bowl with straight sides, but with a Yongzheng nianzhi mark, from the collection of Sir Alfred Beit, sold in our London rooms, 6th November 2013, lot 75.

The form of this bowl, with its slightly flared rim, is more often found decorated with a myriad of flowering blooms and leaves on a coral ground; see one illustrated in Hugh Moss, By Imperial Command. An Introduction to Ch’ing Imperial Painted Enamels, Hong Kong, 1976, pl. 5, where he attributes it to the Jingdezhen imperial kilns between 1722 and 1728; and another sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2010, lot 1803.

Reign marks with the wording yuzhi [made for the imperial use of…] following the reign name, rather than nianzhi [made in the years of…] are rare and suggest a closer relationship to the imperial court. Wares enameled in the imperial workshops in the Forbidden City of Beijing rather than by the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi bear such yuzhi marks, but in overglaze blue or pink enamel, since the plain white porcelains came from Jingdezhen fully glazed and fired. The significance of the underglaze-blue yuzhi mark, which would have been added at Jingdezhen, has been much discussed, particularly since identical bowls are also known with underglaze-blue nianzhi marks. It has been suggested that such bowls were enameled in the Palace at Beijing, with only the mark inscribed at Jingdezhen before firing. However, it is likely that they were decorated in Jingdezhen as the style of enameling differs from that decorated with blue and pink enamels. Hugh Moss, op. cit., p. 82, suggests that such bowls bearing the famille-verte palette were probably produced in Jingdezhen following porcelains painted in the Palace Workshops in Beijing. Until the craftsmen in Beijing became acquainted with the developments in famille-rose of the Palace Workshops they continued to work in the dominant style of the Kangxi period.

康熙以降，造辦處御製琺瑯彩瓷多見濃色地上繪明豔嬌蕊，華貴耀眼。此件珊瑚紅地五彩牡丹紋盌製於雍正早期景德鎮御窰廠，器形及色調均沿續康熙朝宮造琺瑯彩瓷風格，「雍正御製」款識，意指此為專屬帝王自身使用之器。

同類紋飾器形者甚稀，參考兩件近似瓷盌，其一藏於台北國立故宮博物院，展出於《金成旭映：清雍正琺瑯彩瓷》，2013年，編號20，此款配色及紋飾，可見於較為淺腹器形盌器，如編號18、19。鴻禧美術館亦藏二件淺腹花卉紋盌，錄於《中國歷代陶瓷選集》，台北，1990年，圖版142。Alfred Beit 爵士珍藏一例，器形稍大，直壁，書「雍正年製」款，2013年11月6日售於倫敦蘇富比，編號75。 此類口沿微撇之盌，多飾珊瑚紅地「九秋同慶」，見一盌刊於 Hugh Moss，《御製》，香港，1976年，圖版5，書中訂為景德鎮1722至1728年間燒造之器。香港蘇富比於2010年4月8日亦售出一例，可作參考，編號1803。

有別於「年製」款，書「御製」年款瓷珍罕，應為內宮用器。景德鎮御窰燒製白釉無款素盌，直送紫禁城造辦處加彩複燒，器底多書「御製」藍料或紅料款。至於青花年款，理應於景德鎮燒造前書寫，又因書青花「御製」、「年製」字之盌例並見，備受學者討論，一說其紋飾乃宮中處加繪，然其紋飾風格與藍料及紅料款例相異，見 Hugh Moss，前述出處，頁82，筆者論及此類釉彩謹遵傳統五彩瓷，認為宮造洋彩瓷尚未臻備之際，造辦處瓷作匠師以康熙瓷為範，傚仿內宮御瓷。