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Lot Essay
The name mantou xin is derived from the domed interior centre which resembles a mantou bun. The form first appeared during the Yongle period and remained popular in the Xuande period, it was probably inspired from Mamluk metalwork as a result of trade with the Middle East in the Yongle period.
While similar mantou xin bowls are known, no other example bearing the same decoration appears to be published. The Riesco bowl distinguishes itself from the rest in that it has a hexafoil motif on the domed centre, and is completely decorated on the interior with successive concentric borders, whereas all the other examples have a quatrefoil motif and a band of undecorated space to their interior well.
The decoration on most of the extant Xuande mantou xin bowls are modelled faithfully after a Yongle prototype, which unlike the current design, has an additional narrow band of floral scroll around the domed centre, but lacks the prominent frieze of scrolling lotus above, leaving a white band of space to the cavetto. Also, the border on the interior rim has been replaced by a classic scroll, with the exterior base encircled by overlapping lappets in lieu of two decorative bands. See a Yongle example bearing such decoration in the exhibition, Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1996, pp. 228-9, no. 83. Compare a Xuande example in The National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, pp. 296-7, no. 121; another in the Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, illustrated by D. Lion Goldschmidt, La Porcelain Ming, 1978, p. 102, pl. 75; another in the collection of the Umezawa Memorial Hall, Tokyo, illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, p. 159, fig. 20; and a fourth sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 November 2004, lot 1074 (fig. 1 and fig. 2).
The National Palace Museum also has a slightly smaller example carrying this more common decoration, but without the classic scroll at the interior rim and the lotus petal band on exterior base, see op. cit., pp. 298-9, no. 122; and another in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (I), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 167, no. 158.
Interestingly, the design on the interior of the current bowl, though unseen on any other mantou xin examples, is strikingly similar to that on the lianzi bowl in this sale, lot 3109, which shares a fully decorated surface with a floral medallion surrounded by successive decorative bands, including a related band of conjoined petals interlocked with trefoils borne on interconnected stem, and a broad frieze of dianthus scroll to the cavetto.
While similar mantou xin bowls are known, no other example bearing the same decoration appears to be published. The Riesco bowl distinguishes itself from the rest in that it has a hexafoil motif on the domed centre, and is completely decorated on the interior with successive concentric borders, whereas all the other examples have a quatrefoil motif and a band of undecorated space to their interior well.
The decoration on most of the extant Xuande mantou xin bowls are modelled faithfully after a Yongle prototype, which unlike the current design, has an additional narrow band of floral scroll around the domed centre, but lacks the prominent frieze of scrolling lotus above, leaving a white band of space to the cavetto. Also, the border on the interior rim has been replaced by a classic scroll, with the exterior base encircled by overlapping lappets in lieu of two decorative bands. See a Yongle example bearing such decoration in the exhibition, Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1996, pp. 228-9, no. 83. Compare a Xuande example in The National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, pp. 296-7, no. 121; another in the Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, illustrated by D. Lion Goldschmidt, La Porcelain Ming, 1978, p. 102, pl. 75; another in the collection of the Umezawa Memorial Hall, Tokyo, illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, p. 159, fig. 20; and a fourth sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 November 2004, lot 1074 (fig. 1 and fig. 2).
The National Palace Museum also has a slightly smaller example carrying this more common decoration, but without the classic scroll at the interior rim and the lotus petal band on exterior base, see op. cit., pp. 298-9, no. 122; and another in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (I), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 167, no. 158.
Interestingly, the design on the interior of the current bowl, though unseen on any other mantou xin examples, is strikingly similar to that on the lianzi bowl in this sale, lot 3109, which shares a fully decorated surface with a floral medallion surrounded by successive decorative bands, including a related band of conjoined petals interlocked with trefoils borne on interconnected stem, and a broad frieze of dianthus scroll to the cavetto.