A FINE AND VERY RARE CELADON-GLAZED BOWL

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Inspired by the Natural World Rosemary Scott, International Academic Director, Asian Art As in many other areas of the arts, the decorators of Chinese ceramics frequently took inspiration from the natural world in order to provide designs which combine great beauty with auspicious messages and hidden references. Perhaps not surprisingly, plants and animals were amongst the first motifs painted onto ceramic vessels in China. Fish, deer and grains appear on the painted earthenwares created by the potters of the 4th millennium BC Yangshao Neolithic culture at Banpo in Shaanxi province. The people of the Yangshao culture were some of China's first farmers for whom grain, animals and fish constituted their staple diet, while probably also relating to shamanistic rituals (1). These designs, therefore, provided not only attractive ornamentation, but also reflected the primary concerns of their end-users. This dual function of designs taken from nature has continued on Chinese ceramics to the present day, with plant motifs providing the widest range of subjects, as well as some of the most attractive. A number of the exceptional porcelains in the current sale bear botanical motifs which eloquently reflect this duality of beauty and meaning. In some cases a single plant with auspicious meaning is represented. The body of the rare Hongwu pear-shaped vase with underglaze copper red decoration (Lot 8) is painted with scrolling stems of blossoming peony. Peonies in Chinese are mudan and are probably the most popular flowers to be used in decoration as well as being a much favoured subject in poetry and prose. The peony is known as the 'king of flowers', and as early as the Sui dynasty Emperor Yangdi (AD 605-618) is known to have grown peonies in his palace gardens. The peony is additionally one of the 'flowers of the four seasons', representing spring. Peonies are also known as fuguihua 'flower of wealth and honour', in which 'honour' may also refer to rank. This name was coined by the Song dynasty philosopher Zhou Dunyi (AD 1017-73) in his famous essay 'On a Passion for Lotus' (Ailian shuo). Meandering or scrolling peonies, as on this vase, suggests the phrase fugiui wandi, 'May wealth and rank extend for ten thousand generations', since meandering vines (man) suggest continuity and provide a rebus for 'ten thousand' (wandai). A dramatic depiction of a single type of flower can be seen on the attractive Kangxi bowl decorated with camellias (Lot 9). This bowl is an interesting example of the Chinese tradition of applying one design on top of another, which is also seen in fine textiles. Under the glaze and enamels on the exterior of the bowl a design of two dragons pursuing flaming pearls has been incised into the porcelain body. This dragon decoration has been rendered almost invisible by the application of a colourful depiction of blossoming camellia sprays in on-biscuit enamels. Although the leaves are rendered in green enamel and the branches are depicted in purplish-brown, the ceramic artist has not attempted to show the flowers in naturalistic colours, but has used a palette that developed from the 'Ming sancai' wares, adding aubergine and pale bluish-green. The camellia is known as chahua 'tea flower' in China and was a particular associated with New Year's Day - often being included in the special paintings produced for the New Year (suizhaotu ). Despite the many varieties of camellia grown in China, those in Chinese paintings are usually depicted with red petals and yellow stamens, since red is the colour associated with happiness and protection. However, the ceramic artist has relied on the auspicious association of the flowers, while depicting those on the bowl with aubergine, yellow or pale green petals. A further example of a porcelain vessel in the current sale which takes a single plant as its main inspiration is the large Qianlong peach-shaped brush washer with Ru-type glaze (Lot 5). The washer is shaped as half a peach wrapped in a leaf, while a small, whole, peach on a gnarled stem with small leaves forms a handle at one end. The peach is another of the enduringly popular motifs in the Chinese arts because peaches are associated with long life. Peach trees were traditionally considered sacred in China, and, in early times, their wood was deemed to offer protection against evil. The reason that peaches are symbolic of longevity is linked to the stories surrounding Xi Wang Mu (the Queen Mother of the West), who was believed to live in a fabulous palace, high in the Kunlun mountains. In the palace orchard grew peach trees, which blossomed every three thousand years and the fruit took a further three thousand years to ripen, but conferred long life on anyone who ate them. The immortal Dongfang Shuo is frequently depicted escaping with peaches he has stolen from Xi Wang Mu's orchard. Peaches are also associated with the Star God of Longevity Shoulao, who is usually depicted holding a large peach in one hand. Accoutrements for the scholar, such as this brush washer, were often made in peach form and would have been ideal gifts from one scholar to another. Eight peaches appear on some particularly fine porcelain bowls and dishes made for imperial birthdays, as on the exquisite Yongzheng dish from the Hutton Collection in the current sale (Lot 15). Here the peaches are depicted in combination with another favourite motif - five red bats. The prevalence of bats, particularly red bats, on the Chinese decorative arts is something that causes some surprise among people from the West, where bats have less positive associations. In the Chinese arts bats (fu) provide a rebus for blessings (fu) and for riches (fu), while the colour red, as well as being the most auspicious colour is pronounced (hong), the same as a word meaning vast or ample (hong), thus red bats symbolize vast blessings or happiness, while five red bats, symbolize the five blessings of longevity, health, wealth, love of virtue, and a peaceful death. Some of the bats on porcelain are painted upside-down. This is because the word for upside-down (dao) has the same sound as the word for arrived (dao). Therefore an upside-down bat indicates the 'arrival of blessings'. Frequently fine imperial enamelled porcelains of the Yongzheng reign have their decoration starting on the back of the dish at the foot, and continuing up the sides, over the rim and into the interior - so it is necessary to count both front and back to get the requisite number of elements. As noted above, peaches are symbolic of longevity, and eight is the most auspicious number in China. Eight peaches also represent the revered Eight Daoist Immortals. So the combination of five red bats and eight peaches on this dish provides the perfect imperial birthday wish 'May you possess both blessings and longevity' (fushou shuangquan). The 'narcissus' dishes from the Yongzheng reign (Lot 11), executed in doucai technique are also decorated with a combination of motifs for both aesthetic effect and associations. Dishes of this type are noted for the refinement of their white porcelain, their fine potting and, especially, the delicacy and elegance of their decoration. The doucai technique in which they are decorated required that the design was painted with underglaze blue outlines, which were later filled using overglaze coloured enamels. This type of decoration flourished in the Chenghua reign (1465-1487), but, due to the difficulties associated with its production, was largely replaced by other, less taxing, techniques in later periods. It returned to imperial favour in the Yongzheng reign, when a new style was developed, which was more delicate, and had a more varied, but restrained, use of colour than its predecessors. The decoration on these dishes is not only beautiful, it was also chosen to convey an auspicious meaning suitable for a birthday, and is sometimes referred to as 'Heavenly immortal, longevity fungus' (tianxian shouzhi). Both the interiors and the exteriors of the dishes are decorated with narcissus, nandina, lingzhi fungus, and ornamental rocks. Narcissus (shuixian) is associated in China with good fortune and prosperity, and is often displayed at the New Year, filling the halls with its fragrance. However, its Chinese name translates as 'water immortal', and it is often used in decoration to represent immortals. Narcissus symbolizes purity, good fortune and prosperity, while its yellow cup rising from a ring of white petals has resulted in its being called 'golden cup on a silver stand' (jinzhan yintai). The name of the nandina plant in Chinese (tianzhu) translates as 'heavenly bamboo'. Its red berries (tianzhuzi) are seen as a symbol of the Son of Heaven (tianzi), the Emperor. It was a popular motif in the decorative arts from the Song dynasty onwards and was often employed at the New Year and in birthday greetings, providing a rebus for 'heaven' (tian) and the verb to 'wish' or 'congratulate' (zhu). The lingzhi fungus is known as the fungus of immortality, and in this design the nandina combines with the lingzhi to suggest the 'fungus of immortal'. The name of the nandina plant and the phrase for rocks in Chinese (shoushi) combine with the narcissus and lingzhi fungus, to provide a rebus for either 'May the fungus immortal congratulate you on your birthday', or 'May the fungus immortal bestow long life upon you' (zhixian zhushou) (2). It is possible that this design was inspired by the view outside the Yongzheng Emperor's studio. One of the album paintings Shuzhai xiejing, 'Copying Sutras in the Studio', in the 16-leaf album Yongzheng xingle tu, 'Paintings of the Yongzheng Emperor Enjoying Leisure', in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, depicts the emperor in Han-style robes seated at a table with brush poised over a scroll while gazing through a doorway at narcissus and nandina growing amidst rocks (3). The scene is reminiscent of the decoration on the doucai dishes. It may have been a view of which the emperor was particularly fond, since he commissioned a court painter to depict him admiring these plants, although it may have been their auspicious wishes that led to their inclusion on both the silk album leaf and the porcelain dishes. Another Yongzheng vessel decorated in delicate doucai technique has been adorned with an unusual version of a favourite motif - the so-called 'flowers of the four seasons' (Lot 10). These are prunus (plum blossom) representing winter, peony representing spring, lotus representing summer, and chrysanthemum representing autumn. In the context of Kangxi groups of 12 'month cups' there has been much scholarly debate as to which flower should stand for which specific month, and it must be borne in mind that the numbering of the months is done in accordance with the lunar, and not the solar, calendar. However, the most widely accepted order for the four flowers on this vessel is: prunus blossom for the first month; tree peony for the fourth month; lotus for the sixth month; chrysanthemum for the ninth month. On this bowl the four different flowers have been grouped with charming naturalism within four roundels on the exterior of the bowl. In the four roundels the peony and the lotus alternately exchange their colours so that in two roundels the peonies are pink and the lotus red, while in the other two roundels the peonies are red and the lotus pink. A beautiful tianqiuping Yongzheng vase in the current sale is decorated in fine famille rose enamels with a design incorporating herbaceous peonies, white magnolia and crab apple blossom (Lot 14). White magnolia is symbolic of purity, and is known as either yulan (jade orchid) or baiyulan (white jade orchid) in Chinese. Hence it is often used in rebuses to represent jade. Crab apple is haitang, and together the white magnolia and the crab apple suggest Jade Hall (Yutang), the elegant name given to the Hanlin Academy, which was an academic and administrative court institution comprised of elite scholars. Thus the combination of magnolia and crab apple suggests a wish that the recipient of the vase will pass the civil service examinations with high honours enabling him to become a member of the Hanlin Academy. However, 'jade hall' could also be an honorific reference to a wealthy or noble house. In the case of the vase in this sale, the magnolia and crab apple have been combined with peonies, which, as noted above, are the flowers of 'riches and honours'. Thus the implication of the decoration is yutang fugui, 'May your noble house be blessed with wealth and honour'. Two delicately painted butterflies are depicted on the back of the vase. Butterfly in Chinese is die, which provides a homophone for a word meaning 'accumulate' (die). The word for butterfly also sounds like a word meaning aged seventy to eighty (die), and thus long life is also suggested. The superb Kangxi yellow ground falangcai bowl in the current sale (Lot 13) has a particularly beautiful decorative scheme depicting three flowers which are especially beloved of Chinese decorators - chrysanthemum, daylily and rose. Along with lotus, orchid and bamboo, the chrysanthemum is regarded in China as one of the 'four gentlemen of flowers'. Chrysanthemums are mentioned in such early Chinese classical literature as the Shijing (The Book of Odes) (4), and are symbols of longevity and wealth as well as being the flowers representing autumn. The reason they are associated with longevity is because the word for chrysanthemum (ju) sounds similar to the word (jiu) meaning 'a long time', but also because infusions made from their petals have medicinal properties. Chrysanthemums are also known as flowers associated with wealth, perhaps because they have so many petals. The elegant daylilies on this bowl also have an ancient literary history in China. Like chrysanthemums, they too are mentioned in the Shi Jing (Book of Odes). Daylilies are also mentioned in China's earliest materia medica the Shen Nong Bencao Jing (Herbal Classic of Shen Nong), which was traditionally attributed to the mythical Emperor Shen Nong (the Divine Farmer) who was supposed to have lived c. 2800 BC. However, the Shen Nong Bencao Jing probably dates to the Eastern Han dynasty (AD 25-220). The daylily had reached Western Asia by the 1st century AD and is mentioned in the writings of both Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79) and by the Cilician physician, pharmacologist and botanist Pedanius Dioscorides (c. AD 40-90) in his De Materia Medica. Daylilies, properly identified as Hemerocallis, from the Greek hemera, meaning day, and kalos, meaning beautiful, have remained popular flowers in China and the West. Because of its auspicious associations the daylily is a frequent motif on the Chinese decorative arts. In Chinese the daylily is called xuancao, and xuan is a traditional honorific way to refer to one's mother. The flower is also a symbol of longevity, and thus daylilies could be used to honour one's mother and to wish her long life. The roots of daylilies were used to prepare medicine, which was believed to be effective against fevers and liver complaints. Daylilies are also popularly called wangyoucao ('grief dispelling plant') or yi'nancao ('boy-favouring herb'). It was believed that they could raise the spirits and banish grief, while a pregnant woman who wore daylilies could be expected to bear a male child. The third flower on this bowl is a Chinese rose - another flower that combines beauty with auspicious associations. Since the rose has such a long flowering season, it is sometimes known as 'the flower of eternal spring' or 'flower of eternal youth' (changchunhua), and thus is a symbol of long life. Another name for roses comes from the fact that they blossom almost every month and are therefore called 'monthly rose' (yueji), this in turn leads the rose to be a rebus for the 'four seasons' (siji), or 'year-long'. The combination of the wishes expressed by the three types of flower on this bowl would have rendered the vessel a suitable and touching gift to be presented to a mother. Of all the exceptional porcelains in the current sale the one bearing the greatest variety of motifs inspired by the natural world is the exquisitely painted Xuande underglaze blue-decorated bowl (Lot 7). The bowl is decorated with both fruiting and flowering sprays. On the exterior of the bowl peony, lotus, chrysanthemum, camellia, morning glory and prunus (plum blossom) are arranged around the foot of the vessel. The symbolism of peonies, chrysanthemums and camellias is discussed above. Of the other three, lotus has remained a favourite with ceramic decorators over hundreds of years, since it has attractively shaped leaves as well as beautiful flowers. It was much beloved of painters and scholars most famously the Song dynasty philosopher Zhou Dunyi (AD 1017-73 P[), who expressed his admiration of the plant in his famous essay 'On a Passion for Lotus' (Ailian shuo). One word for lotus (he) is a homophone for the word for harmony (he). Lotuses are associated with Buddhism and are also symbols both of feminine beauty and of purity - the latter because the blossoms rise unsullied from the mud. Another name for lotus in Chinese (qinglian) sounds like a phrase for 'incorruptible' (qinglian). The second of those characters for lotus (lian) sounds like the word for 'continuous' or 'successive', and so the motif of a boy holding a lotus - either the flower or the leaf - is a visual pun for continually giving birth to boy babies, usually expressed as 'may you continuously give birth to distinguished sons'. However when lotus is combined with peony, chrysanthemum and camellia, as on this bowl, they can be seen as 'the flowers of the four seasons', and suggest the phrase yinian fugue ('May you enjoy wealth and honour throughout the year'). The flowering plum or prunus mume is the first plant to blossom in the New Year, and has come to symbolize perseverance and purity. Its blossom is seen as heralding spring, while the fact that the flowers appear on withered old branches has made it also a symbol of vigorous old age. The name in Chinese (mei) also sounds like the word for eyebrows (mei), and long eyebrows are regarded as a symbol of longevity. The flowers of the plum have five petals and five is a sacred number, in this case representing the Five Blessings - longevity, wealth, health, love and virtue, and a peaceful death. Morning glory or convolvulus was used in early China for its medicinal purposes, and in the 9th century it was introduced to Japan, where gardeners began to cultivate it for its ornamental flowers. There are many species of flowering plant which belong to the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Some types of morning glory - such as water morning glory - are used in cooking. Its brightly coloured trumpet-like flowers have made it a favourite with both painters on silk and paper and ceramic decorators. Above the flower sprays on the exterior of the bowl are fruiting sprays of pomegranate, loquat, apricot, lychee, grape, and peach. The symbolism of peaches has been discussed above. Pomegranates (shiliu) have been cultivated in China since the 3rd century BC, and because of its many seeds, the fruit is auspicious as a symbol of fertility. The fruit is often shown with the skin split open, showing the seeds inside - as on the current bowl - when it is referred to as 'pomegranate revealing one hundred sons' (liukai baize), representing a wish for many male progeny. Loquats (pipa) are inevitably linked with gold because of the colour of the fruit, but loquats are also regarded as auspicious because the plant embodies the spirit of the four seasons. Its buds are formed in autumn, the blossoms open in winter, the fruit is set in spring and ripens in summer. Apricots are xing in Chinese, while an elegant name is xingyuan. As this last character also means 'first' it has become associated with the sanyuan 'three first, referring to the possibility of coming first in the provincial, metropolitan and imperial civil service examinations. It is probably no accident that six apricots (a multiple of three) are depicted on the branch painted on the current bowl. This association of apricots with academic success is also reflected in the term xingtan (literally 'apricot altar'), which refers to an educational circle. The origin of this phrase is probably the story told by the philosopher Zhuangzi (4th century BC) of Confucius teaching his students in a location encircled by apricot wood. Apricots kernels were also used in Chinese medicine, and Dong Feng, a physician during the Three Kingdoms Period, is said to have required that his recovered patients planted apricot trees in his orchard in lieu of a fee, so that he had a ready supply of apricots from which to make medicine. Physicians were thereafter sometimes referred to as xinglin gaoshou 'adept of the apricot grove'. Lychees have long been a popular theme on the Chinese decorative arts, reflecting the popularity of the fruit, which was eaten either fresh or dried. As early as the Han dynasty Chinese emperors required that lychees were sent to the court as tribute from the southern provinces. It said that Yang Guifei, the infamous concubine of the Tang dynasty Emperor Minghuang (AD 713-56), demanded that lychees were sent post haste to the Tang capital at Chang'an (modern Xi'an), so that she could enjoy them fresh. The word for lychee (lizhi) provides a rebus for 'clever' (li), and also sounds like lizi 'establishing a son' so as to perpetuate the family name. It is for this reason that dried lychees are amongst the items scattered on the nuptial bed. The last of the fruits to be included on this remarkable dish are grapes, depicted as two bunches hanging from a vine with tendrils. Grapes do not appear to have been indigenous to China, but are among the plants that are recorded as having been introduced to China from Central Asia by Zhang Qian, a returning envoy of Emperor Wudi in 128 BC. The grapes were eaten fresh, as well as dried in the form of raisins, but do not seem to have been widely used to make wine until the Tang dynasty. Grapes became a popular motif in the Tang dynasty, when, under western influences, they appeared as part of the 'lion and grape' motif on bronze mirrors. On Chinese porcelains grapes appeared occasionally as a minor part of the decoration with other plants, on 14th century Yuan dynasty blue and white vessels (5), but it was in the early 15th century that grapes became a popular motif on imperial porcelains decorated in underglaze cobalt blue, such as the current bowl. Because they appear in large clusters, bunches of grapes are linked to the acquisition of many sons, while the fact that they are shown on a vine with tendrils (mandai) provides a rebus for 'ten thousand generations' (wandai). It is noticeable that several of the fruit on this dish are depicted with both fruit and flowers on the branch, which suggests that the images may have been adapted from an illustrated pharmacopoeia. The woodblock illustrations in such publications often showed the plants in several stages of development on a single branch (6). These items in the current sale perfectly exemplify the harmonious adaptation of images from the natural world to provide ceramic decoration which is both elegant and imbued with auspicious m (1) Chang, Kwang-chih, The Archaeology of Ancient China, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, Revised and Enlarged Edition, 1972, pp. 92-3, fig. 27. (2) For full discussion of symbolism in Chinese art see Terese Tse Bartholomew, Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art, San Francisco, 2006. (3) Paintings by the Court Artists of the Qing Court, The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum 14, Hong Kong, 1996, p. 110, pl. 16.14. (4) The Shijing is one of the five Chinese classics, and is a collection of poetry, which was traditionally believed to have been compiled by Confucius. It contains works dating from the 11th to the 7th century BC. (5) As on the shoulder of the Yuan jar illustrated by Zhu Yuping, Yuandai qinghua ci, Shanghai, 2000, p. 156, no. 48. (6) An extensive illustrated entry on grapes (putao) is included in juan 23 of the Chongxiu Zhenghe jingshi zhenglei beiying bencao (Classified and Consolidated Armamentarium Pharmacopoeia of the Zhenghe Reign [AD 1111-1117]).

A FINE AND VERY RARE CELADON-GLAZED BOWL

YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARK WITHIN DOUBLE CIRCLES AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

Details

A FINE AND VERY RARE CELADON-GLAZED BOWL
YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARK WITHIN DOUBLE CIRCLES AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)
The bowl is delicately potted with deep rounded sides rising from a straight foot to a slightly flaring rim. The exterior is evenly covered with a soft pale celadon glaze thinning to white on two encircling bow-string bands. The interior and underside of base are covered with a transparent glaze.
6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm.) diam.

Provenance

Sold at Sotheby's London, 12 June 1990, lot 298

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Lot Essay

No other Yongzheng bowl of this form (probably in reference to metalwork examples) and glaze colour appears to have been published. Although shallower cafe-au-lait glazed examples bearing the same type of double-ring reign marks are known, such as the example in the Tokyo National Museum, included in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, Tokyo, 1983, p. 201, pl. 279, and another included in the exhibition, Chinese Antiquities from the Brian S. McElney Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1987, no. 100.

The inspiration for the present type of bowl likely stemmed from a Kangxi apple-green glazed prototype of smaller size, which shares the same proportion and the moulded double-band decoration, see a marked example in the Percival David Foundation, currently housed at the British Museum, illustrated by Rosemary Scott in Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Qing Monochrome Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1989, p. 47, no. B515.

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