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Lot Essay
The carving of the current bowl displays superb craftsmanship of the lacquer artist, with exquisite rendering of details of the many decorative elements typical of imperial Jiajing lacquer wares, which are characterised by the frequent depiction of dragons, phoenixes and various auspicious symbols. It represents a stylistic shift from the early Ming wares which are usually decorated with landscape or bird and flower motifs. It is also carved in lower relief than examples from the preceeding reigns, though the quality of carving remains exceptional.
The National Palace Museum, Taipei has a Jiajing-marked bowl of almost identical design, and inscribed with a poem by the Qianlong Emperor, illustrated in Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors. Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, pl. 88. This design retained its popularity in the succeeding periods, as we find another bowl of similar design but carved out of yellow lacquer with a Wanli mark, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated in Zhongguo qiqi quanji, vol. 5, Ming, Fuzhou, 1995, pl. 134.
The National Palace Museum, Taipei has a Jiajing-marked bowl of almost identical design, and inscribed with a poem by the Qianlong Emperor, illustrated in Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors. Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, pl. 88. This design retained its popularity in the succeeding periods, as we find another bowl of similar design but carved out of yellow lacquer with a Wanli mark, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated in Zhongguo qiqi quanji, vol. 5, Ming, Fuzhou, 1995, pl. 134.