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Lot Essay
These sumptuous, superbly enameled bowls demonstrate the height of Qianlong-period craftsmanship. The enamellers have arduously painted six large, fantastic flowers and finely shaded every leaf, petal and stamen for the chiaroscuro effect. The vibrant hues of the design are boldly juxtaposed against a ground of bright yellow, a color exclusively reserved for the imperial court. In contrast to the exterior, the interior of each bowl is left plain save for five iron-red bats in flight representing wufu, or the Five Blessings (health, wealth, long life, the love of virtue, and a peaceful end to one's life).
The Qianlong Emperor’s fondness for bowls of this type is recorded in the Qing Palace archives of the Palace Workshops. According to the archive, on the 13th day of the 10th month of the second year of the Qianlong period (1737), the chief eunuch Samha, who had served as the president of the Board of Rites during the Kangxi Emperor's reign, recorded that eunuchs Maotuan, Hu Shijie, and Gao Yu submitted a yangcai yellow-ground foreign-flower bowl to the emperor, who expressed his admiration for this type of palace bowl and urged the kiln to produce more pieces.
As can be seen with the current two bowls, Qianlong bowls of this type are painted in two distinctive styles. One style features bright, saturated enamels for the flowers and soft, even shading of the foliage, while the other style features a slightly softer, more pastel palette for the flowers and more emphatic use of black and white enamel for a bolder contrast in the shading of the foliage. A bowl of the first type is in the Nanjing Museum and illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty: The Official Kiln Production of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, no. 243. Examples of the second type include the bowl in the Nanjing Museum illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 101, and the bowl sold at Christie’s Hong, 31 March 1992, lot 655 and again at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 April 2024, lot 3650.
There is also a group of Qianlong yellow-ground bowls with similar designs, but which feature four large flowers rather than six. Bowls of this type include an example in the British Museum, illustrated by H. Moss, By Imperial Command, Hong Kong, 1976, pl. 60, and the example in the Wang Xing Lou Collection, illustrated in Imperial Perfection: The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors, Kangxi - Yongzheng - Qianlong, Hong Kong, 2004, pp. 158-159, no. 57. Of smaller size than the current bowls, generally measuring between 14 and 15 cm. in diam., these bowls generally appear to be painted in the first style discussed above.
Similar designs of large, fantastic flowers borne curling, leafy stems set against a rich yellow ground can also be found on other vessel shapes produced during the Qianlong period, such as the large pear-shaped vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration – 39 – The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 128, no. 111, and the large hu-form vase sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29-30 April 2001, lot 555. (Fig. 1)
The Qianlong Emperor’s fondness for bowls of this type is recorded in the Qing Palace archives of the Palace Workshops. According to the archive, on the 13th day of the 10th month of the second year of the Qianlong period (1737), the chief eunuch Samha, who had served as the president of the Board of Rites during the Kangxi Emperor's reign, recorded that eunuchs Maotuan, Hu Shijie, and Gao Yu submitted a yangcai yellow-ground foreign-flower bowl to the emperor, who expressed his admiration for this type of palace bowl and urged the kiln to produce more pieces.
As can be seen with the current two bowls, Qianlong bowls of this type are painted in two distinctive styles. One style features bright, saturated enamels for the flowers and soft, even shading of the foliage, while the other style features a slightly softer, more pastel palette for the flowers and more emphatic use of black and white enamel for a bolder contrast in the shading of the foliage. A bowl of the first type is in the Nanjing Museum and illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty: The Official Kiln Production of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, no. 243. Examples of the second type include the bowl in the Nanjing Museum illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 101, and the bowl sold at Christie’s Hong, 31 March 1992, lot 655 and again at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 April 2024, lot 3650.
There is also a group of Qianlong yellow-ground bowls with similar designs, but which feature four large flowers rather than six. Bowls of this type include an example in the British Museum, illustrated by H. Moss, By Imperial Command, Hong Kong, 1976, pl. 60, and the example in the Wang Xing Lou Collection, illustrated in Imperial Perfection: The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors, Kangxi - Yongzheng - Qianlong, Hong Kong, 2004, pp. 158-159, no. 57. Of smaller size than the current bowls, generally measuring between 14 and 15 cm. in diam., these bowls generally appear to be painted in the first style discussed above.
Similar designs of large, fantastic flowers borne curling, leafy stems set against a rich yellow ground can also be found on other vessel shapes produced during the Qianlong period, such as the large pear-shaped vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration – 39 – The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 128, no. 111, and the large hu-form vase sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29-30 April 2001, lot 555. (Fig. 1)