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Lot Essay
This bowl, which bears on its base a molded mark reading 'for the appreciation of the Kangxi emperor', is characteristic of the bowls and dishes made of natural gourds during the Kangxi reign. The growing of decorative gourd vessels was a particular interest of the Kangxi emperor. Indeed, his grandson, the Qianlong emperor, wrote a poem in praise of a gourd bowl grown by the Kangxi emperor himself and bearing on its base an inscription reading 'Made by the Kangxi Emperor'. The poem describes how the Kangxi emperor grew gourds in an area of the special experimental plots he had set aside in the Imperial West Garden for the cultivation of improved strains of rice.
Several molded gourd vessels with the same molded mark are illustrated by Wang Shixiang, The Charms of the Gourd, Hong Kong, 1993: p. 185, pl. 6: a bowl with petal-molded sides and a bowl molded with shou medallions, both with black lacquer interior painted with gold decoration, p. 73, figs. 4 and 5, and a pair of plain dishes with black lacquer interiors, p. 185, pl. 6.
Several molded gourd vessels with the same molded mark are illustrated by Wang Shixiang, The Charms of the Gourd, Hong Kong, 1993: p. 185, pl. 6: a bowl with petal-molded sides and a bowl molded with shou medallions, both with black lacquer interior painted with gold decoration, p. 73, figs. 4 and 5, and a pair of plain dishes with black lacquer interiors, p. 185, pl. 6.