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Lot Essay
The dayazhai mark may be translated, 'Studio of the Greater Odes', and the seal mark, tian di yi jia chun, 'The Whole World celebrating as One Family'. Wares of this type were made for the Empress Cixi (1835-1908), and of significance, this important sub-category of Dayazhai wares is connected with Cixi's 60th birthday in 1894. Among the decorative characteristics of this group are the inscriptions Dayazhai and tian di yi jia chun, and the composition of birds, flowers and insects as seen in the present example.
Refer to the article by R. W. Longsdorf, "Dayazhai Ware: Porcleains of the Empress Dowager", Orientations, Hong Kong, March, 1992, p. 45. Compare the grisaille-decorated turquoise-ground bowl illustrated, ibid., fig. 1, and the smaller grisaille turquoise-ground bowl, fig. 2, with the present lot. Two turquoise-ground bowls were sold in these rooms, 21-22 September, 1995, lot 684, while a turquoise-ground jar was sold at Sotheby's, London, 23 June, 1990, lot 327. A yellow-ground bowl is illustrated by Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1991, p. 57, no. A838. Another yellow-ground example in the Avery Brundage Collection, Center of Asian Art and Culture, San Francisco, is illustrated in C. and M. Beurdeley, A Connoisseur's Guide to Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1984, p. 282, no. 154.
The wisteria blossoms are associated with spring, and were a particular favorite of the Dowager Empress. In G. Avitabile, From the Dragon's Treasure: Chinese Porcelain from the 19th and 20th Centuries in the Weishaupt Collection, London, 1987, the author notes that Dayazhai was the studio name of the Dowager Empress, who presented a painting of peonies (now in the Museum of Applied Arts, Frankfurt) with this signature and dragon seal to the German Ambassador on his departure in 1903, and suggests that the porcelain may be based on paintings by the Dowager Empress herself.
Refer to the article by R. W. Longsdorf, "Dayazhai Ware: Porcleains of the Empress Dowager", Orientations, Hong Kong, March, 1992, p. 45. Compare the grisaille-decorated turquoise-ground bowl illustrated, ibid., fig. 1, and the smaller grisaille turquoise-ground bowl, fig. 2, with the present lot. Two turquoise-ground bowls were sold in these rooms, 21-22 September, 1995, lot 684, while a turquoise-ground jar was sold at Sotheby's, London, 23 June, 1990, lot 327. A yellow-ground bowl is illustrated by Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1991, p. 57, no. A838. Another yellow-ground example in the Avery Brundage Collection, Center of Asian Art and Culture, San Francisco, is illustrated in C. and M. Beurdeley, A Connoisseur's Guide to Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1984, p. 282, no. 154.
The wisteria blossoms are associated with spring, and were a particular favorite of the Dowager Empress. In G. Avitabile, From the Dragon's Treasure: Chinese Porcelain from the 19th and 20th Centuries in the Weishaupt Collection, London, 1987, the author notes that Dayazhai was the studio name of the Dowager Empress, who presented a painting of peonies (now in the Museum of Applied Arts, Frankfurt) with this signature and dragon seal to the German Ambassador on his departure in 1903, and suggests that the porcelain may be based on paintings by the Dowager Empress herself.