A VERY RARE PAIR OF LARGE DOUCAI OGEE-FORM BOWLS
A VERY RARE PAIR OF LARGE DOUCAI OGEE-FORM BOWLS

Details
A VERY RARE PAIR OF LARGE DOUCAI OGEE-FORM BOWLS
KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARKS WITHIN DOUBLE CIRCLES AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)

Each shallow bowl is enamelled in brilliant tones and enhanced in gilt with a sunken central medallion of a flower head encircled by interlocking ruyi-heads, the wide flaring cavetto with unusual sprays of stylised floral motifs, the reverse with a lotus flower meander, each full bloom supporting one of the eight Buddhist Emblems, above a lappet band around the foot (one with small glaze chip to rim repaired)
10 3/8 in. (26.3 cm.) diam. (2)

Lot Essay

Two other ogee bowls of this form and design are known, one bearing a Kangxi mark was included in the exhibition Ch'ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1973, and illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 77; and the other with an apocryphal Chenghua mark, dated early 18th century, was sold in Hong Kong, 31 October 1995, lot 500.

The designs of the central medallion and of the unusual floral sprays on the cavetto, are evidently Qing dynasty adaptations on a Chenghua prototype. Compare the present lot with a small doucai Chenghua-marked saucer from the Percival David Foundation, London, illustrated by R. Scott and S. Pierson, Flawless Porcelains: Imperial Ceramics from the Reign of the Chenghua Emperor, Singapore, 1995, pl. 25. The Ming prototype has a central medallion with interlinked ruyi-heads, with the exterior enhanced by lingzhi sprays. Although the present Kangxi bowls are much more complex and elaborate in style and composition, the inspiration for them is evident.

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