YONGZHENG FOUR-CHARACTER YUZHI MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

A Very Rare Early Yongzheng Yuzhi Bowl
By Rosemary Scott
Independent scholar
Visiting ceramics research fellow, Palace Museum, Beijing

This exceptional bowl combines auspicious imagery with elegant and delicate painting, and bears a very rare, underglaze blue, four-character Yongzheng yuzhi mark on its base. Yuzhi marks – frequently translated as ‘imperially made’ or ‘made for imperial use’ - began to appear on special imperial enamelled porcelains towards the end of the Kangxi reign (1662-1722). The four-character Kangxi yuzhi marks were usually applied in overglaze blue or overglaze pink enamel to the base of porcelains with coloured enamel grounds, such as the two yellow-ground bowls in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 39, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 6-7, nos. 4 and 5. Yuzhi marks were primarily applied to cups and bowls, but occasionally seal-paste boxes and vases also bore such marks (see National Palace Museum, Taipei, Qingdai hua falang tezhan mulu, Taipei, 1979, nos. 17 and 1, respectively). A much smaller number of Kangxi enamelled porcelains were inscribed with four-character yuzhi marks in underglaze blue. One such bowl in the collection of the Shanghai Museum, which has a design of flowers on a coral ground, is illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 140-1, no. 95, while other examples are preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing and the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

The application of four-character yuzhi marks on special imperial porcelains continued into the Yongzheng reign, but a survey of extant pieces suggests that their use was less frequent than in the Kangxi reign. The exhibition of Yongzheng painted enamels from the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, held in 2013, seemed to indicate that the majority of Yongzheng yuzhi-marked porcelains were decorated with coloured grounds in styles similar to those of the Kangxi reign (see Jincheng xuying – Qing Yongzheng falangcai ci, Taipei, 2013, pp. 50-5 and 58-63, nos. 16-20 and 22-4, all of which have four-character yuzhi marks written in underglaze blue). A further Yongzheng porcelain cup with underglaze blue four-character yuzhi mark from the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, op. cit., p. 93, no. 81. Examples of Yongzheng yuzhi marks on porcelains which do not have coloured grounds, such as the current example, are exceptionally rare. However, a small bowl, finely enamelled with a design of roses and bamboo on a white ground and bearing an underglaze blue Yongzheng yuzhi mark, from the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Qingdai hua falang tezhan mulu, op. cit., no. 43.

In the case of the current bowl, it is not only the use of the underglaze blue yuzhi mark which indicates a close link to the Kangxi reign and probably an early Yongzheng date. This is also suggested by both the enamel painting style and the choice of motifs. There is much in the style of painting to link this bowl to the finest famille verte enamelled porcelains from the latter part of the Kangxi reign. In particular, the fine iron-red outlines and details of the faces – albeit that on the current bowl the faces have also been given a very pale iron-red wash, in contrast to those of Kangxi figures, and the use of flowing, sometimes transparent, enamels - such as the yellow, green, and clear aubergine, all suggest a closeness to the Kangxi reign, as does the muted blue on the edging of Shoulao’s robe. This blue is closer to the early blue enamel developed in the latter part of the Kangxi reign (for discussion see Rosemary Scott, ‘18th century overglaze enamels: the influence of technological development on painting style’, Style in the East Asian Tradition – Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia No. 14, London, 1987, pp. 152-4). The use of black details under this blue and under the pale clear aubergine on the fur tied around the attendant’s hips is also reminiscent of the style of Kangxi famille verte enamelled porcelains. This fur may be compared to that around the hips of female immortals on the extremely fine Kangxi famille verte bowl in the collection of Sir Percival David (illustrated by Rosemary Scott in Imperial Taste – Chinese Ceramics from the Percival David Foundation, Los Angeles/San Francisco, 1989, p. 78, no. 47 (PDF 859). Indeed, there are a number of similarities between the depiction of the female immortals on the David bowl and the male attendant on the current bowl.

It is worth noting that a small number of imperial Yongzheng porcelains were decorated entirely in the famille verte palette. One such vessel is the Yongzheng famille verte vase in the collection of Sir Percival David illustrated by Rosemary Scott in For the Imperial Court – Qing Porcelain from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, New York/Singapore/London, 1997, pp. 120-1, no. 46 (PDF 823). Three Yongzheng bowls decorated solely in famille verte enamels are illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 38, Hong Kong, 1999, pp. 168-70, nos. 154-6. However, these bowls and the Percival David vase, all bear underglaze blue six-character nianzhi marks, rather than the rarer four-character yuzhi mark seen on the current bowl.

Three enamel colours used to good effect on the current bowl differentiate it from those porcelains painted solely in the famille verte palette, and presage the full famille rose palette associated with the mature Yongzheng overglaze enamel style. These are the opaque white, seen for example on Shou Lao’s robes and as the base colour for both the peach and the trousers of the attendant; the rose enamel applied to the upper part of the peach; and the clear, bright purple applied over the opaque white on the trousers of the attendant. It is likely that all these enamel colours were developed and/or perfected in the 1720s. Interestingly, the surviving Qing Court Archives of the Imperial Workshops note that in the seventh month of the sixth year of Yongzheng [1728] Prince Yi (1686-1730, thirteenth son of the Kangxi Emperor, who was promoted by his step brother, the Yongzheng Emperor, to the First Rank and given the position of Superintendent of Court Affairs) presented new and improved enamel colours, which were subsequently stored at the Imperial Workshops and given to Nian Xiyao (1671-1738) for use on porcelains. Among these colours were opaque white and ‘grape’ purple (see Jincheng xuying – Qing Yongzheng falangcai ci, op. cit., p. 8).

The depiction of the Star God of Longevity, Shou Lao, as seen on the interior of the current bowl, is relatively rare on Yongzheng imperial porcelains. While a popular theme on fine Kangxi porcelains, few Yongzheng porcelains were decorated using this figural scene with the exception of a small group of fine doucai dishes depicting Shou Lao seated under a pine tree, such as the dish illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, op. cit., p. 239, no. 219. This and similar dishes in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, a pair included by the Hong Kong Oriental Ceramic Society in their 1977 exhibition Ch'ing Polychrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, no. 63, and others, have an enamelled crane and peach roundel on the base and are usually dated to the late Kangxi or early Yongzheng period. Shou Lao, shown on the current bowl riding a spotted deer - one of his familiars - is the Star god of Longevity, while the deer and peach are additional symbols of longevity. It is also interesting to see the red bats which form part of the decoration of both the interior and exterior of the bowl. Five red bats appear on the exterior, symbolising the Five Blessings of health, wealth, long life, love of virtue and a peaceful death. A further red bat appears on the interior, flying above Shou Lao, emphasising happiness and blessings. This arrangement also suggests an early Yongzheng date for this beautiful porcelain bowl, since later in the reign the designs on the interior and exterior of bowls and dishes were often arranged to be ‘read’ together, so that on porcelains such as the famous famille rose peach dishes (see Rosemary Scott, Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration – Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, Singapore/London, 1992, p. 139, no. 158 for an example in the collection of Sir Percival David) two red bats were painted on the interior and three on the exterior - to make five. In contrast, the designs on the interior and the exterior of the current bowl are symbolically complete on each surface.

Thus, the current elegant bowl appears to be a very rare and important example of imperial porcelain from the early years of the Yongzheng reign.