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拍品專文
Three different types of flute - the di, chi, and the xiao - were traditionally played in China. The current fine porcelain instrument is a rare xiao or vertical flute, formed in imitation of bamboo, at the Dehua kilns of Fujian province. A late Ming-early Qing writer Zhou Lianggong in his circa AD 1653 treatise Min xiao ji, noted that "Vertical and transverse porcelain flutes from Dehua are lustrous white in colour, and their forms are also fine. However, no more than one or two in every hundred are in tune. When they are in tune, they have a mournful, clear sound, which is far better than that of a bamboo [flute]." P.J. Donnelly (Blanc de Chine - The Porcelain of Tehua in Fukien, London, 1969, p. 127) discusses the considerable difficulties of producing a flute with good tone out of porcelain, which shrinks considerably when fired, and notes that a porcelain instrument cannot be tested for tone until it has been fired, by which time adjustments can no longer be made.
The dating of these Dehua flutes to the late Ming, seems to have been confirmed by P.J. Donnelly. In discussing two vertical porcelain flutes from the collection of the late Professor Cheng Te-k'un, Donnelly noted that they apparently had their fundamental in d', which is a value that has only been found in late Ming dynasty instruments. Qing dynasty instruments had their fundamental in f'. (op. cit., p. 126, pl. 68A).
A Dehua porcelain xiao flute is preserved in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan - taoci juan, Taipei, 1993, p. 408, no. 818). This flute is 57 cm. long and has six holes, five on the upper surface and one beneath. Another Dehua flute, of similar type is in the collection of the Percival David Foundation (illustrated by Margaret Medley in Oriental Ceramics -The World's Great Collections - Vol. 6, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1982, fig. 199). It is 43.2 cm. long and dates to the mid-17th century. A further Dehua vertical flute made to resemble bamboo, like the current example, is in the Koger Collection (illustrated by John Ayers, Blanc de Chine - Divine Images in Porcelain, China Institute Gallery, New York, 2002, p. 72, no. 23). These xiao flutes normally had a more mournful tone than di flutes.
The dating of these Dehua flutes to the late Ming, seems to have been confirmed by P.J. Donnelly. In discussing two vertical porcelain flutes from the collection of the late Professor Cheng Te-k'un, Donnelly noted that they apparently had their fundamental in d', which is a value that has only been found in late Ming dynasty instruments. Qing dynasty instruments had their fundamental in f'. (op. cit., p. 126, pl. 68A).
A Dehua porcelain xiao flute is preserved in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (illustrated Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan - taoci juan, Taipei, 1993, p. 408, no. 818). This flute is 57 cm. long and has six holes, five on the upper surface and one beneath. Another Dehua flute, of similar type is in the collection of the Percival David Foundation (illustrated by Margaret Medley in Oriental Ceramics -The World's Great Collections - Vol. 6, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1982, fig. 199). It is 43.2 cm. long and dates to the mid-17th century. A further Dehua vertical flute made to resemble bamboo, like the current example, is in the Koger Collection (illustrated by John Ayers, Blanc de Chine - Divine Images in Porcelain, China Institute Gallery, New York, 2002, p. 72, no. 23). These xiao flutes normally had a more mournful tone than di flutes.