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Lot Essay
The popular motif of children playing relate to the theme of 'One Hundred Children' which appears on a wide range of decorative objects, including porcelain, jade, textile and lacquerware. In Confucian philosophy, it was important for a family to have many children, but in particular many sons, to fulfill family and ancestral duties. The imagery of 'One Hundred Children' represents a desire for fertility, wealth and happiness. In Daoist thought, a child symbolises the innocence of a sage.
The elaborate and highly amusing design on the present bowl is based on earlier Ming prototypes of children gathered in groups playing in a landscaped garden. The earliest representation in this format can be found on a Yongle blue and white bowl exhibited at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Porcelain, The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, 1987, illustrated in the catalogue, no. 15.
The prototype for this particular design, however, is found on bowls dating to the Kangxi period. A similar bowl with a Kangxi mark is illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics IV, Hong Kong, 1995, pl.104. A pair bowls of identical design from the Qianlong period is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Japan, 1987, pl. 952.
Jiaqing examples include a bowl in the Palace Museum Beijing, illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pl.159; the bowls in the O. C. S. Exhibition of Ch'ing Polychrome Porcelain, 1977, no. 100, subsequently sold at Christie's London, 13 December 1982, lot 528; one included in The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, 1986, no. 93; and another, illustrated by Avitable, From the Dragon's Treasure, Chinese Porcelain from the 19th and 20th Centuries in the Weishaupt Collection, p. 37, fig. 32; and a similar Jiaqing-marked bowl sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 May 2007, lot 1380. An unmarked bowl dating to the Jiaqing period from the Robert Chang Collection was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1312.
The elaborate and highly amusing design on the present bowl is based on earlier Ming prototypes of children gathered in groups playing in a landscaped garden. The earliest representation in this format can be found on a Yongle blue and white bowl exhibited at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese Porcelain, The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, 1987, illustrated in the catalogue, no. 15.
The prototype for this particular design, however, is found on bowls dating to the Kangxi period. A similar bowl with a Kangxi mark is illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics IV, Hong Kong, 1995, pl.104. A pair bowls of identical design from the Qianlong period is illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Japan, 1987, pl. 952.
Jiaqing examples include a bowl in the Palace Museum Beijing, illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pl.159; the bowls in the O. C. S. Exhibition of Ch'ing Polychrome Porcelain, 1977, no. 100, subsequently sold at Christie's London, 13 December 1982, lot 528; one included in The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, 1986, no. 93; and another, illustrated by Avitable, From the Dragon's Treasure, Chinese Porcelain from the 19th and 20th Centuries in the Weishaupt Collection, p. 37, fig. 32; and a similar Jiaqing-marked bowl sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 May 2007, lot 1380. An unmarked bowl dating to the Jiaqing period from the Robert Chang Collection was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1312.