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Lot Essay
The use of gold enamel to decorate and even glaze ceramics can be traced back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) but it was during the Kangxi period (1662-1722) that it was revived and perfected.
The Jesuit missionary Père François-Xavier d'Entrecolles (1644-1741) described in detail its manufacture, noting that gold was grounded, left to dry and then mixed with white lead before being applied to a porcelain vessel. See a gold-enamelled falangcai ‘peony’ bowl in the Baur Collection, Geneva, inventory number: CB.CC.1950.673, which illustrates how his technique was perfected during the Kangxi reign.
Compare two further examples of small gold-enamelled bowls from the Yongzheng period; one from the collection of Sir Percival David in the British Museum, museum number: PDF B.598; the other, sold at Sotheby’s London , November 5, 2014, lot 14. Additionally, a pair of bowls is illustrated by Regina Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Volume 2, London, 1994, no. 949. A further example of a gold-enamelled stemcup from the Yongzheng period was sold at Sotheby’s London, 4 November 2020, lot 45.
No other bowl or pair of bowls from the Qianlong period (1736-1795) completely glazed and decorated in gilt appear to be known, rendering the current pair extremely rare.
The current pair of bowls are exquisitely decorated around the exterior with and idyllic landscape using the atmospheric perspective technique, giving a great sense of depth to the painting; the foreground presents a quaint village with mountains in the background while the opposite side reveals a river with sampan. Compare a bowl dating to the Yongzheng period (1723-1735) in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Jincheng Xuying Xin Jingjie: Ji Qing Yongzheng Falangcaici Tezhan, Taipei, pp. 162-165, no. 63. The painterly style of the landscape rendered on the present bowls is similar to this cited earlier example.
The Jesuit missionary Père François-Xavier d'Entrecolles (1644-1741) described in detail its manufacture, noting that gold was grounded, left to dry and then mixed with white lead before being applied to a porcelain vessel. See a gold-enamelled falangcai ‘peony’ bowl in the Baur Collection, Geneva, inventory number: CB.CC.1950.673, which illustrates how his technique was perfected during the Kangxi reign.
Compare two further examples of small gold-enamelled bowls from the Yongzheng period; one from the collection of Sir Percival David in the British Museum, museum number: PDF B.598; the other, sold at Sotheby’s London , November 5, 2014, lot 14. Additionally, a pair of bowls is illustrated by Regina Krahl in Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Volume 2, London, 1994, no. 949. A further example of a gold-enamelled stemcup from the Yongzheng period was sold at Sotheby’s London, 4 November 2020, lot 45.
No other bowl or pair of bowls from the Qianlong period (1736-1795) completely glazed and decorated in gilt appear to be known, rendering the current pair extremely rare.
The current pair of bowls are exquisitely decorated around the exterior with and idyllic landscape using the atmospheric perspective technique, giving a great sense of depth to the painting; the foreground presents a quaint village with mountains in the background while the opposite side reveals a river with sampan. Compare a bowl dating to the Yongzheng period (1723-1735) in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Jincheng Xuying Xin Jingjie: Ji Qing Yongzheng Falangcaici Tezhan, Taipei, pp. 162-165, no. 63. The painterly style of the landscape rendered on the present bowls is similar to this cited earlier example.