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Lot Essay
Embellishing the Ming
Rosemary Scott
Independent Scholar
Several aspects of the current overglaze enamelled bowl render it of particular interest. The first of these is that it bears on the base an underglaze blue imperial mark for the reign of the Ming dynasty Hongzhi Emperor (1487-1505). Its enamelled decoration, however, is of the type developed during the late 17th and early 18th century. The enamel palette used on the bowl originated in the Qing dynasty Kangxi reign (1662-1722), and was perfected in the Yongzheng (1723-35) and Qianlong (1736-95) reigns, continuing in popularity thereafter. While the later application of overglaze enamelled decoration to Chinese porcelains from the Ming and Qing dynasties occurred on a number of both plain and underglaze blue-decorated wares when they reached Europe, this was rarely accomplished with anything like the delicacy of the enamels applied in China. On the current bowl, both the enamels themselves and the delicate style with which they are painted clearly indicate that they are Chinese.
Later decoration of plain white-glazed Ming dynasty porcelains is known from as early as the Kangxi reign, as evidenced by a Yongle (1403-24) dish, decorated in the Kangxi period with overglaze enamelled floral designs, now in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and illustrated in Special Exhibition of Ch'ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers, Taipei, 1992, no. 1. In the case of the dish, an overglaze iron-red Kangxi mark was applied to the base when the other enamels were added. The application of overglaze enamels to white Ming dynasty porcelains is also reported in succeeding Qing reigns, particularly that of the Qianlong Emperor. It seems likely that the large imperial orders for enamelled porcelains placed during that period caused officials to seek out white, undecorated, vessels from the imperial stores and send them to the enamel workshops for decoration. The application of later enamels to white porcelains from both the Ming and Qing dynasties continued into the Republican period. The risks in this practice were considerable, since with each firing some pieces would be damaged. This was unfortunate if the piece were contemporary, but disastrous if the piece had come from the imperial collection and was several hundred years old.
The choice of motifs on the current bowl has been carefully selected, and is auspicious. Two pairs of quails, are depicted amongst flowers and rocks on the exterior. The flowers include chrysanthemums and roses, together with a multicoloured lingzhi fungus. On the interior, a single quail is shown extending its wings, accompanied by a creamish-yellow rose, the stem of which runs over the rim of the bowl from the exterior in guozhihua style. Quails, which came to prominence as subjects for enamelled decoration in the Yongzheng reign, are usually shown in pairs. A pair of quails with chrysanthemums appear on a small cup in the collection of Sir Percival David (illustrated by Rosemary Scott in Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration – Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, p. 141, no. 160). Quails are small, but quite pugnacious birds, which are sometimes associated with courage because of their fighting spirit. However, they are regularly used in decoration as symbols of peace, since in Chinese quails are anchun 鵪鶉 and the first character is a homophone for an 安, meaning peace. In order to multiply the peaceful message, quails are frequently depicted in pairs – doubling the wish. On the current bowl two pairs are shown, emphasising the wish even further. It is probable, however, that the decorator did not want to depict four birds, since four is not an auspicious number in Chinese culture, and he therefore added a fifth quail on the interior of the bowl. Five has auspicious associations with the five blessings, the five elements and the five sacred mountains.
The flowers chosen to decorate the bowl are also significant. Chrysanthemums are usually regarded as one of the flowers of the four seasons, representing autumn, but here the name for chrysanthemum juhua 菊花 is used to suggest a word meaning to dwell ju 居. Thus, combined with the quails they provide the wish ‘may you dwell in peace’. The roses in the design add to the message. One of the Chinese names for a rose is yuejihua 月季花 – ‘monthly rose’. The quails, chrysanthemums and roses, therefore, suggest the wish: ‘may you dwell in peace throughout the year’. Roses are relatively rare on Chinese porcelain after the Yuan dynasty, when they appear on a small number of large blue and white jars, until they gained popularity again in the Qing dynasty reign of the Yongzheng Emperor. At that time, they were used to decorate enamelled porcelains of the type classed as falangcai, often combined with bamboo and sometimes narcissi (see Jincheng xuying : Qing Yongzheng falangcai ci, Porcelain with painted enamels of Qing Yongzheng period (1723-1735), Taipei, 2013, pp. 146-151 and 168-9). The lingzhi fungus of immortality adds a wish for longevity. A multicoloured lingzhi fungus plant also appears on a large Yongzheng dish, decorated with a guozhihua scheme (discussed below), from the collection of Sir Percival David (illustrated by Rosemary Scott in Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration – Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, p. 142, no. 162).
As has been noted above, the design of five quails and flowers on the current bowl is disposed over the surface in such a way that the decoration extends from the exterior, over the rim, and into the interior of the vessel. This unusual design concept was known as guozhihua (果枝花 flowering branch passing over [the rim]) or guoqiangzhi (過牆枝 branch passing over the wall). The name guoqiangzhi, suggests the sound of changzhi, 長治 ‘long peace under good government’, which would provide both a compliment to the prevailing government and a wish for period of their rule to be a long one.
It seems likely that the particular decorative scheme, in which a flowering branch or stem, was shown continuing from the exterior of a dish or bowl and into the interior, first appeared in the latter years of the Ming dynasty, in the second quarter of the seventeenth century. A blue and white ko-sometsuke bowl with grape vines depicted extending over the rim was published by R. Fujioka and G. Hasebe in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, p. 275, pl. 268. It was not until the Qing dynasty that this style of decoration seems to have gained popularity, and, importantly, appears to have won imperial favour. One of the earliest Qing dynasty examples of guozhihua can be seen on a rare white porcelain bowl, which was formerly in the collection of Paul and Helen Bernat, now in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The Boston bowl, which has been dated to the early Kangxi reign, late seventeenth century, bears the name of the legendary potter, Hao Shijiu and is illustrated by Wu Tung in Earth Transformed - Chinese Ceramics in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 2001, p. 149. This Kangxi bowl has a subtle white slip design of prunus blossom running up the outside walls and into the interior of the vessel. Guozhihua decoration is, however, generally associated with especially fine famille rose porcelains of the Yongzheng reign, and is most often seen on ‘peach’ dishes, and occasionally ‘peach’ bowls, made for imperial birthdays. Because of the complexities of the scheme, guozhihua was more often used on dishes, where the more open surfaces made the task of painting it a little easier. Bowls, especially relatively small bowls, would have rendered the task more difficult because of the restricted working space. Given the difficulty of painting such decoration successfully, even on dishes, it is not surprising that guozhihua decoration is rare after the end of the Yongzheng reign.
Rosemary Scott
Independent Scholar
Several aspects of the current overglaze enamelled bowl render it of particular interest. The first of these is that it bears on the base an underglaze blue imperial mark for the reign of the Ming dynasty Hongzhi Emperor (1487-1505). Its enamelled decoration, however, is of the type developed during the late 17th and early 18th century. The enamel palette used on the bowl originated in the Qing dynasty Kangxi reign (1662-1722), and was perfected in the Yongzheng (1723-35) and Qianlong (1736-95) reigns, continuing in popularity thereafter. While the later application of overglaze enamelled decoration to Chinese porcelains from the Ming and Qing dynasties occurred on a number of both plain and underglaze blue-decorated wares when they reached Europe, this was rarely accomplished with anything like the delicacy of the enamels applied in China. On the current bowl, both the enamels themselves and the delicate style with which they are painted clearly indicate that they are Chinese.
Later decoration of plain white-glazed Ming dynasty porcelains is known from as early as the Kangxi reign, as evidenced by a Yongle (1403-24) dish, decorated in the Kangxi period with overglaze enamelled floral designs, now in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and illustrated in Special Exhibition of Ch'ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers, Taipei, 1992, no. 1. In the case of the dish, an overglaze iron-red Kangxi mark was applied to the base when the other enamels were added. The application of overglaze enamels to white Ming dynasty porcelains is also reported in succeeding Qing reigns, particularly that of the Qianlong Emperor. It seems likely that the large imperial orders for enamelled porcelains placed during that period caused officials to seek out white, undecorated, vessels from the imperial stores and send them to the enamel workshops for decoration. The application of later enamels to white porcelains from both the Ming and Qing dynasties continued into the Republican period. The risks in this practice were considerable, since with each firing some pieces would be damaged. This was unfortunate if the piece were contemporary, but disastrous if the piece had come from the imperial collection and was several hundred years old.
The choice of motifs on the current bowl has been carefully selected, and is auspicious. Two pairs of quails, are depicted amongst flowers and rocks on the exterior. The flowers include chrysanthemums and roses, together with a multicoloured lingzhi fungus. On the interior, a single quail is shown extending its wings, accompanied by a creamish-yellow rose, the stem of which runs over the rim of the bowl from the exterior in guozhihua style. Quails, which came to prominence as subjects for enamelled decoration in the Yongzheng reign, are usually shown in pairs. A pair of quails with chrysanthemums appear on a small cup in the collection of Sir Percival David (illustrated by Rosemary Scott in Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration – Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, p. 141, no. 160). Quails are small, but quite pugnacious birds, which are sometimes associated with courage because of their fighting spirit. However, they are regularly used in decoration as symbols of peace, since in Chinese quails are anchun 鵪鶉 and the first character is a homophone for an 安, meaning peace. In order to multiply the peaceful message, quails are frequently depicted in pairs – doubling the wish. On the current bowl two pairs are shown, emphasising the wish even further. It is probable, however, that the decorator did not want to depict four birds, since four is not an auspicious number in Chinese culture, and he therefore added a fifth quail on the interior of the bowl. Five has auspicious associations with the five blessings, the five elements and the five sacred mountains.
The flowers chosen to decorate the bowl are also significant. Chrysanthemums are usually regarded as one of the flowers of the four seasons, representing autumn, but here the name for chrysanthemum juhua 菊花 is used to suggest a word meaning to dwell ju 居. Thus, combined with the quails they provide the wish ‘may you dwell in peace’. The roses in the design add to the message. One of the Chinese names for a rose is yuejihua 月季花 – ‘monthly rose’. The quails, chrysanthemums and roses, therefore, suggest the wish: ‘may you dwell in peace throughout the year’. Roses are relatively rare on Chinese porcelain after the Yuan dynasty, when they appear on a small number of large blue and white jars, until they gained popularity again in the Qing dynasty reign of the Yongzheng Emperor. At that time, they were used to decorate enamelled porcelains of the type classed as falangcai, often combined with bamboo and sometimes narcissi (see Jincheng xuying : Qing Yongzheng falangcai ci, Porcelain with painted enamels of Qing Yongzheng period (1723-1735), Taipei, 2013, pp. 146-151 and 168-9). The lingzhi fungus of immortality adds a wish for longevity. A multicoloured lingzhi fungus plant also appears on a large Yongzheng dish, decorated with a guozhihua scheme (discussed below), from the collection of Sir Percival David (illustrated by Rosemary Scott in Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration – Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, p. 142, no. 162).
As has been noted above, the design of five quails and flowers on the current bowl is disposed over the surface in such a way that the decoration extends from the exterior, over the rim, and into the interior of the vessel. This unusual design concept was known as guozhihua (果枝花 flowering branch passing over [the rim]) or guoqiangzhi (過牆枝 branch passing over the wall). The name guoqiangzhi, suggests the sound of changzhi, 長治 ‘long peace under good government’, which would provide both a compliment to the prevailing government and a wish for period of their rule to be a long one.
It seems likely that the particular decorative scheme, in which a flowering branch or stem, was shown continuing from the exterior of a dish or bowl and into the interior, first appeared in the latter years of the Ming dynasty, in the second quarter of the seventeenth century. A blue and white ko-sometsuke bowl with grape vines depicted extending over the rim was published by R. Fujioka and G. Hasebe in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, p. 275, pl. 268. It was not until the Qing dynasty that this style of decoration seems to have gained popularity, and, importantly, appears to have won imperial favour. One of the earliest Qing dynasty examples of guozhihua can be seen on a rare white porcelain bowl, which was formerly in the collection of Paul and Helen Bernat, now in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The Boston bowl, which has been dated to the early Kangxi reign, late seventeenth century, bears the name of the legendary potter, Hao Shijiu and is illustrated by Wu Tung in Earth Transformed - Chinese Ceramics in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 2001, p. 149. This Kangxi bowl has a subtle white slip design of prunus blossom running up the outside walls and into the interior of the vessel. Guozhihua decoration is, however, generally associated with especially fine famille rose porcelains of the Yongzheng reign, and is most often seen on ‘peach’ dishes, and occasionally ‘peach’ bowls, made for imperial birthdays. Because of the complexities of the scheme, guozhihua was more often used on dishes, where the more open surfaces made the task of painting it a little easier. Bowls, especially relatively small bowls, would have rendered the task more difficult because of the restricted working space. Given the difficulty of painting such decoration successfully, even on dishes, it is not surprising that guozhihua decoration is rare after the end of the Yongzheng reign.