Lot Essay
Copper-red dishes of this type is often referred to as 'sacrificial red', since they were made as state ceremonial wares in accordance to Hongwu's edict of 1369 which elevated the importance of porcelain in official sacrifices. Monochrome wares were produced in specific colours for the different sacrificial altars, red in this instance for the Chaoritan (the Altar of the Sun). For a detailed discussion refer to an essay by Lau, Ceremonial Monochrome Wares of the Ming Dynasty, The Porcelains of Jingdezhen, Scott (Ed.), Percival David Foundation, Colloquies of Art & Archaeology in Asia no.16, 1993, pp.83-100.
The technique for firing copper red wares in the Hongwu reign was still at an experimental stage and, as such, these wares did not achieve the pure translucent red of later periods. The red glaze of the present lot is typical of the Hongwu period with its waxy sheen and a semi-opaque texture.
For other published examples, compare with a related saucer dish of a smaller size (16.4 cm.), in the British Museum, illustrated in Chinese Copper Red Wares, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, Monograph Series no. 3, pl. 7, where it is noted that moulded dragons and clouds are typical decorative elements in the reign of the Hongwu emperor. Cf. also a dish (19 cm.) from the Collection of Mrs. Walter Sedgwick, included in the Transaction of the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1955-57, Catalogue, vol. 30, London, fig. 99; and another illustrated by Joseph, Ming Porcelain, Their Origins and Development, fig. 7, p. 17.
The 'dragon and cloud' scheme according to Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, p. 152, first made its appearance on a group of fourteenth century Ming wares where three clouds in the centre are either incised or painted, and surrounded by two dragons moulded in low relief in the well. Although two examples from the Idemitsu Collection with the same design, the first a copper red bowl, illustrated in Zhong Guo Taoci, col. pl. 132, and another with a dark blue glaze on the exterior, col. pl. 134, are both dated Yuan dynasty.
For a comparison with other wares decorated with the 'dragon and cloud' motif, cf. a bowl with a single moulded dragon in the well, incised clouds at the centre and incised lotus petals to the exterior, illustrated in Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, no. 15, p. 96. Another dish covered with a cobalt-blue glaze in the interior and a brown glaze on the reverse is illustrated by Joseph, op. cit., fig. 8; see also the similarly glazed stemcup, fig. 9, as well as a dish painted in underglaze-blue and white slip with this design, fig. 10.
Compare also with a underglaze copper red bowl incised with dragons and clouds dated to the second half of fourteenth century, in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, illustrated in Imperial Porcelain, Recent Discoveries of Jingdezhen Ware, Catalogue, no. 209, p. 124.
(US$230,000-280,000)
The technique for firing copper red wares in the Hongwu reign was still at an experimental stage and, as such, these wares did not achieve the pure translucent red of later periods. The red glaze of the present lot is typical of the Hongwu period with its waxy sheen and a semi-opaque texture.
For other published examples, compare with a related saucer dish of a smaller size (16.4 cm.), in the British Museum, illustrated in Chinese Copper Red Wares, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, Monograph Series no. 3, pl. 7, where it is noted that moulded dragons and clouds are typical decorative elements in the reign of the Hongwu emperor. Cf. also a dish (19 cm.) from the Collection of Mrs. Walter Sedgwick, included in the Transaction of the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1955-57, Catalogue, vol. 30, London, fig. 99; and another illustrated by Joseph, Ming Porcelain, Their Origins and Development, fig. 7, p. 17.
The 'dragon and cloud' scheme according to Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, p. 152, first made its appearance on a group of fourteenth century Ming wares where three clouds in the centre are either incised or painted, and surrounded by two dragons moulded in low relief in the well. Although two examples from the Idemitsu Collection with the same design, the first a copper red bowl, illustrated in Zhong Guo Taoci, col. pl. 132, and another with a dark blue glaze on the exterior, col. pl. 134, are both dated Yuan dynasty.
For a comparison with other wares decorated with the 'dragon and cloud' motif, cf. a bowl with a single moulded dragon in the well, incised clouds at the centre and incised lotus petals to the exterior, illustrated in Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, no. 15, p. 96. Another dish covered with a cobalt-blue glaze in the interior and a brown glaze on the reverse is illustrated by Joseph, op. cit., fig. 8; see also the similarly glazed stemcup, fig. 9, as well as a dish painted in underglaze-blue and white slip with this design, fig. 10.
Compare also with a underglaze copper red bowl incised with dragons and clouds dated to the second half of fourteenth century, in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, illustrated in Imperial Porcelain, Recent Discoveries of Jingdezhen Ware, Catalogue, no. 209, p. 124.
(US$230,000-280,000)