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Lot Essay
In traditional Chinese culture, pine, bamboo, and prunus are celebrated as the 'Three Friends of Winter', embodying the resilience and noble virtues of scholars and literati who flourish despite adversity. As such, these three motifs have long been favoured in scholarly circles and widely employed across various artistic mediums.
The function of these thickly potted shallow bowls- an innovation of the Xuande period- is discussed in Chinese Porcelain: The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, pt. II, p. 53. They have been variously identified as scholars' brush washers, as vessels for playing dice at court, or as containers for cricket fights- a popular Ming dynasty pastime for which, it has been suggested, 'the extreme thickness of the bowls would render them an ideal battlefield'.
Xuande bowls of this form decorated with the 'Three Friends of Winter' are rare. A small number of related examples are preserved in prestigious institutions worldwide, each varying slightly in shape and size. A nearly identical Xuande bowl in the Percival David Foundation, British Museum, is illustrated by R. Scott, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art: A guide to the Collection, London, 1989, p. 74, no. 62. A slightly larger example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, collection no. zongci003904N (fig. 1), illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Part II, Taipei, 1963, pl. 42. Further examples include one in the Cleveland Museum of Art, collection no.: 1953.631; one in the Shanghai Museum, included in Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 53; a smaller example in the Percival David Foundation, British Museum, is illustrated by M. Medley, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, vol.7, Tokyo, 1975, pl.46; and one at the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection no.: xin00124553 (fig. 2).
For further comparison, see a related Xuande bowl decorated with fruiting branches, sold at Sotheby’s London, 26 November 2024, lot 3848. A Xuande-marked bowl of similar shape from the Tianminlou Collection, decorated with a garden scene, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2023, lot 2704. Another example, decorated with an immortal and bearing the mark on the base, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2024, lot 1394.
The function of these thickly potted shallow bowls- an innovation of the Xuande period- is discussed in Chinese Porcelain: The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, pt. II, p. 53. They have been variously identified as scholars' brush washers, as vessels for playing dice at court, or as containers for cricket fights- a popular Ming dynasty pastime for which, it has been suggested, 'the extreme thickness of the bowls would render them an ideal battlefield'.
Xuande bowls of this form decorated with the 'Three Friends of Winter' are rare. A small number of related examples are preserved in prestigious institutions worldwide, each varying slightly in shape and size. A nearly identical Xuande bowl in the Percival David Foundation, British Museum, is illustrated by R. Scott, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art: A guide to the Collection, London, 1989, p. 74, no. 62. A slightly larger example in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, collection no. zongci003904N (fig. 1), illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Part II, Taipei, 1963, pl. 42. Further examples include one in the Cleveland Museum of Art, collection no.: 1953.631; one in the Shanghai Museum, included in Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1987, no. 53; a smaller example in the Percival David Foundation, British Museum, is illustrated by M. Medley, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, vol.7, Tokyo, 1975, pl.46; and one at the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection no.: xin00124553 (fig. 2).
For further comparison, see a related Xuande bowl decorated with fruiting branches, sold at Sotheby’s London, 26 November 2024, lot 3848. A Xuande-marked bowl of similar shape from the Tianminlou Collection, decorated with a garden scene, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2023, lot 2704. Another example, decorated with an immortal and bearing the mark on the base, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2024, lot 1394.