GUANGXU-EARLY REPUBLIC PERIOD, LATE 19TH-EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Details

A FINELY PAINTED DAYAZHAI OVOID GRISAILLE-DECORATED YELLOW-GROUND VASE
GUANGXU-EARLY REPUBLIC PERIOD, LATE 19TH-EARLY 20TH CENTURY
The tall, slender vase is decorated around the exterior en grisaille with a continuous scene of a bird perched on a wisteria vine above roses and between a petal-lappet border below and a ruyi border at the mouth rim above. The vase is inscribed in iron-red below the shoulder with a three-character inscription, Dayazhai, followed by an oval seal, tian di yi jia chun (Spring throughout heaven and earth as one family). The interior and base are covered with turquoise enamel, which on the base surrounds an iron-red yong qing chang chun (eternal prosperity and enduring spring) mark within a double square.
17 3/8 in. (44.2 cm.) high

Provenance

Richfield Antiques, New York, 1993.

Lot Essay

The wisteria vine that decorates this vase is often seen on other Dayazhai wares, as the flower was a favorite of the Dowager Empress Cixi, and also decorated a number of her robes. The bird shown perched on the thick trunk of the vine may depict the Chinese huamei, so named for the distinctive marking around the bird's eyes - a white outline that extends backwards as a white stripe, thereby forming a 'painted eyebrow' (huamei).
Compare the present vase with the very similar decoration on a bowl in the collection of Sir Percival David illustrated by R. Scott in Elegant Form and harmonious Decoration – Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, p. 173, no. 200.

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