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Lot Essay
The present lot appears to be a smaller example of other 18th century moonflasks with this design. One formerly from the collection of Richard de la Mare, measuring 29.8 cm. high and dated to the early 18th century, was included in the O.C.S. exhibition, The Arts of the Ch'ing Dynasty, London, 26 May - 2 July 1964, no. 117, and again in the exhibition catalogue, The Ceramic Art of China, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 9 June - 25 July 1971, pp. 122 and 194, pl. 132, no. 197. Two other closely related examples decorated with pairs of magpies or finches, dated to the Yongzheng period, include one illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 173, no. 2, and another in An Exhibition of Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, Christie's, London, 2-14 June 1993, pp. 168-9, no. 79. The latter has an effaced Yongzheng seal mark.
Based on a Ming dynasty prototype of early 15th century date, the decoration on the present lot may be compared to one with a single bird perched on a branch on each of the facing sides in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated by R. Scott, Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration, London, 1992, p. 42, no. 29. Illustrated again by R. Scott in Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art: A Guide to the Collection, London, 1989, p. 73, no. 61, the author notes that this shape has its origins in Syrian glass. Another early Ming dynasty example includes one from the collection of E. T. Chow, illustrated by J. Mayuyama, Chinese Ceramics in the West - A Compendium of Chinese Ceramics Masterpieces in European and American Collections, Tokyo, 1960, p. 89, no. 89.
This decorative motif is closely related to Chinese fan paintings, and is discussed by M. Medley, "Sources of Decoration in Chinese Porcelain from the 14th to 16th Century", Colloquies on Art and Archaeology in Asia, no. 5, Percival David Foundation, London, 1975, p. 63, where a detail of an anonymous Song painting and a Ming woodblock print with similar motifs of a perched bird are illustrated, pl. III a and c respectively.
Based on a Ming dynasty prototype of early 15th century date, the decoration on the present lot may be compared to one with a single bird perched on a branch on each of the facing sides in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated by R. Scott, Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration, London, 1992, p. 42, no. 29. Illustrated again by R. Scott in Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art: A Guide to the Collection, London, 1989, p. 73, no. 61, the author notes that this shape has its origins in Syrian glass. Another early Ming dynasty example includes one from the collection of E. T. Chow, illustrated by J. Mayuyama, Chinese Ceramics in the West - A Compendium of Chinese Ceramics Masterpieces in European and American Collections, Tokyo, 1960, p. 89, no. 89.
This decorative motif is closely related to Chinese fan paintings, and is discussed by M. Medley, "Sources of Decoration in Chinese Porcelain from the 14th to 16th Century", Colloquies on Art and Archaeology in Asia, no. 5, Percival David Foundation, London, 1975, p. 63, where a detail of an anonymous Song painting and a Ming woodblock print with similar motifs of a perched bird are illustrated, pl. III a and c respectively.