The Leshantang Collection (II) – Treasures of Chinese Art from the Tsai I-Ming Collection
The Leshantang Collection (II) – Treasures of Chinese Art from the Tsai I-Ming Collection
A fine and rare pair of doucai 'mandarin duck and lotus' dishes, Marks and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正 鬪彩蓮池鴛鴦臥足盤一對 《大清雍正年製》款
Auction Closed
April 9, 04:51 AM GMT
Estimate
3,000,000 - 5,000,000 HKD
Lot Details
Description
A fine and rare pair of doucai 'mandarin duck and lotus' dishes,
Marks and period of Yongzheng
清雍正 鬪彩蓮池鴛鴦臥足盤一對 《大清雍正年製》款
each finely potted with shallow rounded sides rising from a countersunk base enclosed by an unglazed footring, the interior painted with a pair of mandarin ducks swimming in a pond amongst lotus with broad furled leaves and aquatic grasses, the flowers with red-tipped petals issuing from slender stippled stems, the pads naturalistically detailed in two tones of green with insect holes along the edges, the exterior with a matching frieze of four ducks swimming across gently rippled water between sprays of lotus, below a band enclosing six dragons alternating in yellow, green and aubergine in pursuit of flaming pearls at the rim, the base inscribed in underglaze-blue with a six-character reign mark within a double circle
17.5 cm
Collection of Edward T. Chow (1910-80), acquired no later than 1959.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19th May 1981, lot 550.
仇焱之（1910-80年）收藏，1959年或以前入藏
香港蘇富比1981年5月19日，編號550
Edward T. Chow and Frederick Seguier Drake, ‘Kuan-Yao and Min-Yao: A Study on Imperial Porcelain and People's Porcelain from K'ang-hsi to the End of the Ch'ing Dynasty’, Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, vol. 13, 1959, fig. 1 (line drawing) and pl. I, 1 and 2.
Michel Beurdeley and Guy Raindre, La Porcelaine des Qing: Famille verte et famille rose, 1644-1912 / Qing Porcelain. Famille Verte, Famille Rose, Fribourg, 1986; English version, New York, 1987, pl. 134.
Sotheby's Hong Kong Twenty Years, 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 265.
The Leshantang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Taipei, 2005, pl. 45.
仇焱之及林仰山，〈官窰與民窰：康熙至清末御瓷與民窰瓷器研究〉，《Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America》，卷13，1959年，圖1（線圖）及圖版I，1及2
Michel Beurdeley 及 Guy Raindre，《La Porcelaine des Qing: Famille verte et famille rose, 1644-1912／Qing Porcelain. Famille Verte, Famille Rose》，弗里堡，1986年，英譯版， 紐約，1987年，圖版134
《香港蘇富比二十週年》，香港，1993年，圖版265
《樂山堂藏瓷》，台北，2005年，圖版45
Chinese Art from the Ching Wan Society Collections, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 51.
《中華文物集粹：清翫雅集收藏展II》，鴻禧美術館，台北，1998年，編號51
The eminent dealer Edward T. Chow co-wrote an article with Professor Frederick S. Drake in 1959 that delved into the study of imperial Qing porcelain. The article meticulously curated a selection of pieces from the personal collection of Edward T. Chow, and among them is the present pair of dishes, which was prominently featured and chosen as the very first object to be illustrated. These carefully chosen pieces were considered to embody "perfection in every detail" as Professor Drake eloquently states, and as a paragon of the exceptional workmanship and precise symmetrical exactitude that characterises guanyao imperial porcelain.
Over the past sixty years, the present pair of dishes was dutifully kept in the personal collection of Edward T. Chow till its seminal sale in 1981 and later found its place in the Leshantang Collection.
The present pair of dishes is no doubt a superb example of Yongzheng wares which were heavily influenced by early Ming design. Boldly outlined in underglaze-blue and filled-in with a soft colour palette, the design of lotus with mandarin ducks symbolises the wish for a harmonious marriage and the birth of illustrious sons. This auspicious scene was revived again during the Qing dynasty in doucai and blue-and-white colour schemes.
Yongzheng doucai dishes of this design are rare. Museum examples include one in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 216; another dish in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 25.35.5); and a further pair in the Avery Brundage Collection in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (accession nos B60P1425 and B60P1426).
For examples in prominent private collections, see a dish in the collection of the Tsui Museum of Art, illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics IV: Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 143; a pair from the T.Y. Chao Collection, sold in these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 296, and later at Christie's Hong Kong, 31st October 1994, lot 616 and again on 1st June 2011, lot 3571; another pair formerly in the collection of Mrs. Carsten D. Muller, first sold at Parke-Bernet Galleries, 13th February 1952, lot 192, and again at Christie's New York, 25th September 2020, lot 1830.
Compare also the Yongzheng blue and white version of this design included in this sale (lots 131 and 140).
仇氏早於1959年偕漢學家林仰山教授撰文研究清代瓷器，文中列舉一系列仇氏私人珍藏官窰精選，此對鬪彩臥足盤列位其中，並為圖片之首。林教授述及，此批御瓷件件精妙獨到，可謂清代御製官窰之典範，彰顯當朝製瓷工藝之高超成就。
仇氏惜藏本品逾二十載，釋於1981年仇焱之專拍，後入樂山堂珍藏，如今已四十餘年。
本品形制得早明風範，屬雍窰佳器，以濃豔青花繪紋飾輪廓，釉上填彩，成色細緻柔美，繪蓮池鴛鴦，寄意婚姻和美，多子多孫。此紋飾盛行清代，可見青花與鬪彩作例。
雍正窰鬪彩臥足盤，繪鴛鴦紋者甚少，如北京故宮博物院藏一例，刊於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集．五彩、鬪彩》，香港，1999年，圖版216；另一例藏於紐約大都會藝術博物館（館藏編號：25.35.5），還有一對藏於三藩市亞洲藝術博物館，為布倫戴奇舊藏（館藏編號：B60P1425、B60P1426）。
重要私人收藏，如徐氏藝術館存一例，錄於《徐氏藝術館：陶瓷篇 IV：清代》，香港，1995年，圖版143；趙從衍舊藏一對1987年5月19日售於香港蘇富比，編號296，後二度於香港佳士得售出：1994年10月31日，編號616，2011年6月11日，編號3571。還有一對出自 Carsten D. Muller 夫人收藏，1952年2月13日售於紐約帕克．博內藝廊，編號192，後於2020年9月25日售於紐約佳士得，編號1830。
並比較雍正朝青花作例，如本場拍賣拍品編號131及140。