Lot 20

THE SOAME JENYNS COLLECTION OF CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART (LOTS 20-43)Soame Jenyns As I Remember HimBy James SpencerConsultant and Former Curator of The Chang Foundation, TaipeiLife was not all roses for the most junior member of the Oriental Department at Christie’s in the early 1970s. Once or twice a month, however, there was a real treat. Our consultant, Mr Soame Jenyns, formerly of the British Museum, came on one of his regular visits. Soame, who soon became a friend and an ally, was already a legend in the field of Oriental art and the author of some of the most definitive books on Chinese and Japanese ceramics. On his visits to Christie’s he was shown any obscure or difficult objects on which a second opinion was needed. In this he excelled. His career at the British Museum, in addition to his years in China and his visits to Japan, had given him enough experience and confidence to pass judgement on almost anything Oriental that was put in front of him. As much as anyone I had ever known, Soame had an ‘eye’ for Oriental art, an ability to discern the good from the ordinary, the superlative from the good and the really rare from the merely uncommon. Soame often said that he thought his former ‘chief’ at the British Museum, R.L. Hobson, never had a sense of beauty for things Oriental, but treated this vast subject as an intellectual exercise in dating and cataloguing. The same could never be said of Soame himself. I particularly remember him being very excited about a damaged Chinese famille rose porcelain kendi (jug), circa 1730 which he bought and later gave to the British Museum. In the last forty-seven years of handling uncounted numbers of ceramics, I have never seen another example half its equal in brilliance of design and it remains for me the ‘king’ of all kendis.Equally accurate and more significant was an opinion Soame expressed in the early 1950s to the curator of one of the most important Japanese museums. In a friendly atmosphere he had been shown around the museum by the curator and his staff and had rightly praised some of the most significant exhibits. Then they came to a superb pair of red, blue and gold-decorated Imari vases. The curator explained that these were ‘national treasures’ and among the finest examples of Japanese ceramic art. Soame agreed completely about their quality, then added, ‘but you do realise they are Chinese don’t you?’ After that there was a tangible change in atmosphere and the visit was concluded politely but quickly. From then until the late 1960s, Soame had no contact with this museum. Then a letter arrived, thanking Soame for his opinion on the Imari vases, acknowledging they now agreed with it and welcoming him to pay a return visit. One of the most exciting events for me in the early 1970s was paying a visit to Soame’s house and seeing his own collection. I was surprised at the high proportion of his collection that was Japanese, but Soame explained that in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, Japanese art was generally more affordable than Chinese in England because there were fewer collectors of it. In his collection almost everything was in one way or another rare and interesting. There was literally nothing second-rate; it must have been weeded out long ago. Soame Jenyns was, in my view, the best type of pre-1914 Englishman and this aspect of his character was the one that came across on one’s first encounter with him. However, I think there was another dimension to Soame, which some of his acquaintances never knew. Perhaps Soame’s most lasting monument will be his works on ceramics, not necessarily easy to read for a beginner, but essential for the serious student. Out of print, these have changed hands for over thirty times their original cost, clear proof of their enduring practical value. In addition to these Chinese ceramics and works of art from the collection in this sale, Christie's is delighted to offer The Soame Jenyns Collection of Japanese and Chinese Art in a single owner online auction from the 1-8 November 2018.

A RARE AND FINELY-DECORATED PAINTED ENAMEL 'PEONY'-FORM BOWL AND COVER

18TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE AND FINELY-DECORATED PAINTED ENAMEL 'PEONY'-FORM BOWL AND COVER
18TH CENTURY
The bowl and cover are exquisitely painted to the sides with elaborate peony blooms growing from leafy stems in subtle tones of pink, purple and yellow on a white ground, the top of the cover is decorated with fruiting grape vines. The interiors and base are enamelled in lilac.
5 in. (12.6 cm.) diam.

Provenance

Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Alfred Clark (1873-1950 and 1890/1-1976), no. 37.
Collection of the late Soame Jenyns (1904-1976), then by descent within the family.

Literature

International Exhibition of Chinese Art: Catalogue and Illustrated Supplement, London, 1935-1936, p. 187, no. 2195 and illustrated p. 203, no. 2195.
Transactions of the Oriental Ceramics Society, 1963-64, vol. 35, London, 1965, p. 71, no. 337 and illustrated plate 109, no. 337.
Soame Jenyns and Margaret Jourdain, Chinese Export Art in the Eighteenth Century, London, 1967, p. 132, no. 123.

Exhibited

International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935-1936, cat. no. 2195, ser. no. 2590
The Arts of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Oriental Ceramics Society Exhibition, London, 1964, no. 337

Brought to you by

Samantha Yuen

syuen@christies.com +44 (0)20 7104 5791

Lot Essay

Painted enamels were known as ‘foreign enamels’. The technique was developed in Europe in Flanders at the borders between Belgium, France and Netherlands. In the late 15th century the town Limoges, in west central France, became the centre for enamel production. As the maritime trade flourished between East and West, enamels were introduced to China via the trading port Canton (Guangzhou). The Qing court then set up Imperial ateliers to produce enamelled metal wares in the Kangxi period (1662-1722). In the early period, due to insufficient technical knowledge, only small vessels were made, with limited palette and murky colours. By the late Kangxi period, a wider range of brighter and purer colours became available, resulting in clearer decorations and a higher level of technical sophistication.

The exceptional quality of painting on the current bowl and cover indicates that it is very likely to have been manufactured in the Imperial Palace Workshops in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Soame Jenyns himself notes this point in his publication co-authored with Margaret Jourdain, Chinese Export Art in the Eighteenth Century, 1967, p. 132, lot 123, where the current bowl is illustrated and captioned 'probably Peking work'. Archival documents indicate that certain painted enamel wares were gifted to the court by the Guangdong Maritime Customs Office in the early years of the Qianlong reign (1736-1695) and that these pieces had no marks. Is it noted that painted enamel wares from later in the period were made with Imperial reign marks.

The treatment of the two-tone turquoise and green-enamelled leaves displayed on the current bowl are reminiscent of Yongzheng period (1723-1735) enamels, particularly to peonies depicted on imperial porcelain wares. See for example a fine and rare famille rose 'peony' bowl of Yongzheng mark and period, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 April 2002, lot 567.

These factors would place the current bowl in the early part of the 18th century and more specifically to the late Yongzheng-early Qianlong period.

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