Yongzheng blue and white sold at Christie's HK 30 may 2024

19 août 2024

Yongzheng blue and white sold at Christie's HK 30 may 2024

Lot 2894. A rare pair of blue and white 'palace' bowls, Yongzheng six-character marks in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 15 cm diam. Price realised HKD 6,048,000 (Estimate HKD 4,000,000 – HKD 6,000,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s London, 7 June 2000, lot 125.

Note: This pair of bowls is masterfully potted with smooth rounded sides, gracefully rising from a tapered foot to a slightly flared rim, superbly painted in characteristic soft tone of cobalt-blue in outlines infilled with wash. Each exterior is painted with a gently undulating meander of flowers with the blossoms in full bloom with tender flaring petals, all between double line bands at the rim and foot. The interior is painted with a central medallion enclosing a single flower head within a double circle, beneath a double-line band at the rim. Both bowls are covered overall in a thick unctuous glaze fired to a waxy finish. Each base is inscribed with the six-character mark within double circles in underglaze blue.

This pair of bowls exemplifies the deft ability of Yongzheng potters to adapt and modify Ming design in a distinctly contemporary manner. The inspiration can be found in Chenghua mark and period pieces companion pieces in Asia; there are four bowls preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, recorded in the museum's porcelain catalogue Gugong ciqi lu, part II: Ming, vol.1, Taipei, 1962, p.214, three of which have been published with illustrations, two in the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ch'eng-hua Porcelain Ware, 1465 – 1487, Taipei, 2003, cat.nos.33 and 34; the third in the exhibition catalogue Ming Chenghua ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of Ming Chenghua porcelain], Taipei, 1976, no. 80.

Two similar Chenghua bowls are also in the British Museum, London, one, from the collection of Sir Percival David, was included in the exhibition Flawless Porcelains: Imperial Ceramics from the Reign of the Chenghua Emperor, Percival David Foundation, London, 1995, catalogue, no.1; the other from the collection of Mrs. Winnifred Roberts, given in memory of A.D. Brankston, is published in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, no. 6:4.

Chenghua porcelain remained greatly treasured throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties. The rulers most interested in collecting ancient ceramics, the Wanli and Yongzheng Emperors both had copies commissioned from the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, the former with his own reign marks, the latter usually with a spurious Chenghua mark. It is extremely rare to find a palace bowl of Yongzheng mark and period, an example from the collection of Mrs. Alfred Clark, now in the British Museum, museum number: 1973,0124.2, is illustrated in Sir Harry Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London, 1973, pl.36. Compare a Kangxi mark and period bowl of this design, which is equally rare, from the collection of Brian McElney and now in the Museum of East Asian Art, Bath, illustrated in Inaugural Exhibition. Chinese Ceramics, Bath, 1993, catalogue, no. 193.

Lot 2893. An extremely rare blue and white 'peach' tea caddy, Yongzheng six-character marks in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 25 cm high. Price realised HKD 3,780,000 (Estimate HKD 1,800,000 – HKD 2,500,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Field Marshal Earl Kitchener of Khartoum (1850-1916), and thence by descent through the family, by repute.

Note: It is extremely rare to find Yongzheng period blue and white vases decorated with peaches as main motif. Compare to an almost identical covered vase of this size and pattern in the Beijing Palace Museum collection, illustrated in The Palace Museum’s Collection of Blue and White Porcelains from Yongzheng Period of Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2017, no. 188. It is more common to find Yongzheng cylindrical vase decorated with sprays of fruit and flowers, see one decorated with floral scrolls, sold at Christie’s London, 6 November 2012, lot 278.

This vase is reputedly from Field Marshal Earl Kitchener of Khartoum collection, and thence by descent through the family. And it appears to be that the current vase was documented in the inventory of Field Marshal, The Right Honourable Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, K.G., deceased, The Collections of China, Eastern Arms and Armour, Decorative Objects, Furniture, Pictures, and Egyptian and other Antiquities, & c., Chirstie, Manson & Woods, December 1916, p.42, no 466.

Lot 2891. A rare blue and white 'dragon' vase, Yongzheng six-character marks in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 38.6 cm high. Price realised HKD 3,528,000 (Estimate HKD 3,000,000 – HKD 5,000,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Collection of Sir Michael Stewart, purchased in Hong Kong in early 1960s, by repute
The Anthony du Boulay Collection
Sold at Bonhams London, 10 November 2003, lot 32.

Exhibited: The London Asian Art Fair, Porcelain for Emperors, June 2003, no.35.

Note: This vase is finely painted in rich cobalt blue tones around the broad baluster body and trumpet neck with a pair of five-clawed scaly dragons in pursuit of a flaming pearl. One dragon is writhing amidst rocks and foaming waves while the other is in flight above the waves amidst ruyi cloud and fire scrolls. The base is inscribed with a six-character mark in regular script within a double-circle in underglaze blue.

In the quest to justify their right to the throne of China as a foreign dynasty, the Manchu emperors of the Qing dynasty often commissioned works of art to reflect their power and beneficence. In both its shape and decoration, the present vase immediately references great works of art of the past, with the dragon yielding an impressive evocation of imperial grandeur. As emblem of the Emperor’s majestic and benevolent rule, the dragon had a long tradition in China. Dragons adorned every room of the Qing palace and the image of the five-clawed dragon can be considered the ultimate reflection of the Yongzheng emperor’s imperial splendor.

The present vase is notable for the harmonious composition of dragons in pursuit of flaming pearls. In Chinese cultural imagery, the dragon is a symbol of the beneficent emperor, and often depicted emerging from the crested waves and flying among the clouds as it rises from winter hibernation at the spring equinox and brings rain to water the crops. A similar-sized Qianlong vase with globular body, decorated with nine dragons amongst clouds in underglaze blue, is published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Shanghai, 2000, no. 118.

Compare a related blue and white Yongzheng-marked covered dragon vase of cylindrical shape from the J. Insley Blair Collection, illustrated in , Tuxedo Park, New York, 1925, pl. XII, no. 62, sold at Chirstie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2121.