A RARE LARGE FINELY PAINTED FAMILLE-VERTE JARDINIERE MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI |

of square section with canted corners, robustly potted with deep flaring sides rising from a stepped splayed foot to a wide everted rim, the four main facets brightly enamelled depicting a magpie perched on leafy bamboo shoots beside sprigs of lingzhi growing from rocks, variously interspersed with flowers and insects, the narrow sides decorated with further lingzhi and bamboo, all above moulded lappets at the foot each enclosing leafy floral sprays reserved against a stippled green ground, the top of the everted rim painted with cranes in flight amongst scrolling clouds divided by flowering and fruiting branches of peach, inscribed to one side in underglaze blue with a horizontal six-character reign mark below the rim

Collection of Louiston Guest.
Sotheby’s New York, 2nd December 1967, lot 93.
Estate of Brooke Astor.
Sotheby’s New York, 24th/25th September 2012, lot 626. 

Elegantly painted with birds in blossoming trees reminiscent of that found in albums and paintings, this jardinière is a fine example of the mature style of Kangxi imperial porcelain. The large vessel has been formed in a mould, rather than thrown on a wheel, to great success: the technical feat of successfully creating a precise and harmonious form of this size is remarkable. Jardinières of this type appear to have been made in pairs, of which large square-section planters with canted corners and a continuous waisted foot, as seen here, are the rarest of the formulations. For the companion to the present piece, see one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu / Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 15, Tokyo, 1983, pls 5 and 6. A further jardinière of this type, with a slightly varied rendering of the bird and flower theme, from the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, is published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, no. 95. Peter Y.K. Lam, in ‘Lang Tingji and the Porcelain of the Late Kangxi Period’, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 68, 2003-2004, p. 44, suggests that these jardinières were produced in the latter years of the Kangxi reign, possibly commissioned for the Emperor’s 70th birthday, which would have occurred in 1723. Paintings of Qing imperial birthdays illustrate the display of jardinières, antiquities, and artworks as part of the opulent celebrations, which suggests that this group of imperially marked jardinières would have been filled with appropriate plants and placed on view for guests to admire during the festivities. For paintings illustrating the Kangxi Emperor’s 60th birthday celebration and the Qianlong Emperor’s 70th birthday celebrations, see two included in the exhibition China: The Three Emperors, 1662-1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005, cat. nos 25 and 26.

According to Lam, the style of the reign marks on the jardinière also point to a date late in the Kangxi Emperor’s reign. His research indicates that between 1713 and 1722, artisans began writing ‘Qing’ with a vertical interior stroke in the ‘moon’ radical (Peter Y. K. Lam, ‘Lang Tingji and the Porcelain of the Late Kangxi Period’, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 68, 2003-2004, p. 44). This is precisely the style of reign mark that occurs on the present jardinière and others of its type.  

Imperial Kangxi jardinières of this group share a number of features including the impressive size, faceted bodies and six-character reign marks on the underside of the rim. A closely related Kangxi-marked jardinière of this size, also decorated with birds among bamboo, was sold at Christie’s New York, 19th September 1996, lot 287. A jardinière of this form, but decorated with Xiwangmu on one side and attendants on the other sides, was sold at Christie’s London, 15th May 2007, lot 282, and again in our New York rooms, 20th March 2018, lot 367, from the Jie Rui Tang collection; and another, but of elongated hexagonal form and bracket-lobed rim, from the Qing Court collection, is included in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, op. cit., no. 192. Compare also a bird and flower decorated jardinière of hexagonal form, but with shaped rim and raised on four ruyi-form legs, the Kangxi reign mark in black enamel, sold twice at Christie’s London, 19th April 1983, lot 357, and 12th November 2002, lot 72.