.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The deep rounded sides of the exterior is intricately enamelled with a continuous leafy scroll bearing five peony blossoms in pink, blue, yellow, purple and green, amidst smaller flowers, all against a pink ground, the interior is enamelled blue.
Painted enamel on metal was first produced during the Kangxi reign, initially under the influence of European painted enamels presented to the court by Western missionaries, and further refined by the Imperial Workshop. Painted enamels of this period are predominantly decorated against yellow or blue grounds, with motifs that harmoniously blend Western aesthetic influences with traditional Chinese motifs, among which floral compositions are the most classic.
Examples rendered with a pink ground such as the present bowl are exceedingly rare among Kangxi painted enamels. Compare a Kangxi-marked shallow bowl with a similar shade of ground colour, painted with floral motifs against a purple ground, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Taipei, collection no.: gufa000015N (fig. 1). Related examples featuring peony blossoms against a blue ground are more common; see a blue-ground bowl decorated with four peonies in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 186, no. 177 (fig. 2). For further Kangxi-marked blue-ground peony bowls sold at auction, see one sold at Christie’s London, 8 June 2004, lot 467; and another sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31 May 2010, lot 1863 (fig. 3).
Painted enamel on metal was first produced during the Kangxi reign, initially under the influence of European painted enamels presented to the court by Western missionaries, and further refined by the Imperial Workshop. Painted enamels of this period are predominantly decorated against yellow or blue grounds, with motifs that harmoniously blend Western aesthetic influences with traditional Chinese motifs, among which floral compositions are the most classic.
Examples rendered with a pink ground such as the present bowl are exceedingly rare among Kangxi painted enamels. Compare a Kangxi-marked shallow bowl with a similar shade of ground colour, painted with floral motifs against a purple ground, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Taipei, collection no.: gufa000015N (fig. 1). Related examples featuring peony blossoms against a blue ground are more common; see a blue-ground bowl decorated with four peonies in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 186, no. 177 (fig. 2). For further Kangxi-marked blue-ground peony bowls sold at auction, see one sold at Christie’s London, 8 June 2004, lot 467; and another sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31 May 2010, lot 1863 (fig. 3).