- 3631
A FINE BLUE AND WHITE 'MELON' CHARGER MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG |
Estimate
3,200,000 - 4,200,000 HKD
bidding is closed
Description
- 45.8 cm, 18 in.
robustly potted with shallow rounded sides rising from a short foot to a flat everted rim, the interior centred with a medallion enclosing a continuous scrolling branch of vine bearing seven lobed melons and tendrils, all within a broad composite floral scroll around the cavetto issuing buds and blooms wreathed by finely detailed leaves, the rim painted with a wave border within a raised lip, the exterior with six fruiting sprigs of lychee, pomegranate, loquat, peach, cherry and crab apple, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double circle
Provenance
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 28th November 1978, lot 226.
Condition
The charger is in overall very good condition with just some extremely minor expected firing imperfections and light surface wear.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Although the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1723-35) lasted no longer than thirteen years, it had a huge impact on the porcelain production of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Like his father, the Kangxi Emperor, he was a strong patron of the arts. Already as a prince, before he ascended the throne, Yongzheng had shown a keen interest in porcelains and had copies made of earlier ceramic ware at the Jingdezhen imperial kilns. Himself an excellent administrator, he immediately recognized the importance of good management of the imperial factory. In 1726, early in his reign, he chose his Minister of Imperial Household, Nian Xiyao (1617-1738), as Superintendent of Customs and Director of the Jingdezhen imperial kilns. Nian Xiyao effectively ran the industry, personally supervising the production for the court. During that time, Tang Ying (1682-1756) became involved at the Jingdezhen kilns as Assistant Supervisor, and it was entirely to his credit that porcelain production, both in terms of quality and technology, reached an unprecedented high level. As source of inspiration, Tang Ying took some of the best examples of the previous Ming dynasty (1368-1644) porcelains. Not merely copying, he went further yet, by adding new imaginative details to the original Ming designs.
The present dish clearly stands in this practice of early Ming dynasty revivals. Its decor brings to mind a familiar design of early Ming blue-and-white dishes: a melon vine with two large fruits and a smaller one rooted in the ground, with a flower scroll around the cavetto and a wave band at the rim of the Yongle period (1403-1424), see an example from the Tianminlou collection, illustrated in Blue-and-White Porcelain from the Tianminlou Collection, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1992, cat. no. 25 and for an excavated example from the waste heaps of the imperial kilns at Zhushan, Jingdezhen chutu Yuan Ming guanyao ciqi/Yuan’s and Ming’s Imperial Porcelains Unearthed from Jingdezhen, Beijing, 1999, pl. 70.
On the present dish, the Yongle design is ingeniously renewed by adding further embellishments to the melons and flowers. The shading of the blue evokes the ‘heaped and piled’ effect of the early blue-and-white and the specks on the melons, flowers and leaves that of the burnt cobalt spots, as if a flaw had now been turned into a decorative feature.
After Yongle, the melon as decorative motif was less seen on porcelain, although some bowls and dishes display it in a different composition, such as a Chenghua (1465-1487) mark and period ‘palace’ bowl, decorated with three individual clusters of melon vine, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. 2, no. 677. A dish from the Jiajing period (1522-1566) features an overall pattern of melon vines; see the exhibition catalogue Lanbai Huiying/Radiating Hues of Blue and White. Ming Dynasty Blue-and-White Porcelains in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 2016, no. 98.
Not only on porcelain were melons a favoured theme, but also on ink paintings, compare an album leaf of the late Yuan or early Ming dynasty with seals dating to around the Chenghua period, included in the exhibition catalogue Seven Classical Paintings, Eskenazi Ltd, London, 2009, no. 7.
Melons were generally associated with the virtue of loyalty due to its connection with the historical figure of Shao Ping, Marquis of Dongling during the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC) who lost his rank and wealth when the Han (206 BC-AD 220) replaced the Qin dynasty. Not accepting the new rule, he left outside the capital Chang’an, to grow melons, which became renowned for their fine quality as Dongling melons. His loyalty was immortalized in a poem by Tao Yuanming (354-427), quoted in John Minford and Joseph Lau, An Anthology of Translations, Classical Chinese Literature, vol. 1: From Antiquity to the Tang Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 502. Popularly, melons are an auspicious symbol for prosperity and a long lineage of sons, as phrased in the Chinese proverb guadie mianmian.
An identical dish is in the Palace Museum in Beijing, illustrated in Geng Baochang, Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu Qinghua ci [Early blue-and-white porcelain in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, vol. 2, pl. 201. Another is included in James Spencer, Zhongguo Lidai taoci xuanji/Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1990, cat. no. 125. See another comparable charger in the Tianminlou collection, sold from these rooms, 23rd of May, 1978, lot 131, and illustrated in Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, cat. no. 53. Two other similar dishes were sold in our rooms: one from the Jingguangtang collection, sold in our London rooms, 7th June 1988, lot 273, and exhibited in Gems of Chinese Art: Selections of Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes from the Tsui Art Foundation, The Empress Palace Museum, Singapore, 1992, no. 95; the other in New York, 23rd September 1997, lot 282.
The present dish clearly stands in this practice of early Ming dynasty revivals. Its decor brings to mind a familiar design of early Ming blue-and-white dishes: a melon vine with two large fruits and a smaller one rooted in the ground, with a flower scroll around the cavetto and a wave band at the rim of the Yongle period (1403-1424), see an example from the Tianminlou collection, illustrated in Blue-and-White Porcelain from the Tianminlou Collection, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1992, cat. no. 25 and for an excavated example from the waste heaps of the imperial kilns at Zhushan, Jingdezhen chutu Yuan Ming guanyao ciqi/Yuan’s and Ming’s Imperial Porcelains Unearthed from Jingdezhen, Beijing, 1999, pl. 70.
On the present dish, the Yongle design is ingeniously renewed by adding further embellishments to the melons and flowers. The shading of the blue evokes the ‘heaped and piled’ effect of the early blue-and-white and the specks on the melons, flowers and leaves that of the burnt cobalt spots, as if a flaw had now been turned into a decorative feature.
After Yongle, the melon as decorative motif was less seen on porcelain, although some bowls and dishes display it in a different composition, such as a Chenghua (1465-1487) mark and period ‘palace’ bowl, decorated with three individual clusters of melon vine, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. 2, no. 677. A dish from the Jiajing period (1522-1566) features an overall pattern of melon vines; see the exhibition catalogue Lanbai Huiying/Radiating Hues of Blue and White. Ming Dynasty Blue-and-White Porcelains in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, 2016, no. 98.
Not only on porcelain were melons a favoured theme, but also on ink paintings, compare an album leaf of the late Yuan or early Ming dynasty with seals dating to around the Chenghua period, included in the exhibition catalogue Seven Classical Paintings, Eskenazi Ltd, London, 2009, no. 7.
Melons were generally associated with the virtue of loyalty due to its connection with the historical figure of Shao Ping, Marquis of Dongling during the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC) who lost his rank and wealth when the Han (206 BC-AD 220) replaced the Qin dynasty. Not accepting the new rule, he left outside the capital Chang’an, to grow melons, which became renowned for their fine quality as Dongling melons. His loyalty was immortalized in a poem by Tao Yuanming (354-427), quoted in John Minford and Joseph Lau, An Anthology of Translations, Classical Chinese Literature, vol. 1: From Antiquity to the Tang Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 502. Popularly, melons are an auspicious symbol for prosperity and a long lineage of sons, as phrased in the Chinese proverb guadie mianmian.
An identical dish is in the Palace Museum in Beijing, illustrated in Geng Baochang, Gugong Bowuyuan cang Ming chu Qinghua ci [Early blue-and-white porcelain in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 2002, vol. 2, pl. 201. Another is included in James Spencer, Zhongguo Lidai taoci xuanji/Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1990, cat. no. 125. See another comparable charger in the Tianminlou collection, sold from these rooms, 23rd of May, 1978, lot 131, and illustrated in Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, cat. no. 53. Two other similar dishes were sold in our rooms: one from the Jingguangtang collection, sold in our London rooms, 7th June 1988, lot 273, and exhibited in Gems of Chinese Art: Selections of Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes from the Tsui Art Foundation, The Empress Palace Museum, Singapore, 1992, no. 95; the other in New York, 23rd September 1997, lot 282.