Lot 1038. An exceptionally rare and large blue and white reserve-decorated 'peony' dish, Xuande six-character mark in underglaze blue in a line and of the period (1426-1435); 38.6 cm diam. Estimate USD 1,000,000 – USD 1,500,000. Price Realised USD 1,562,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Collection of Baron Guy de Villelume (1908-1991), Château de La Gorgue, France, until 1988.
Private collection, France.
Ming: The Intervention of Imperial Taste; Sotheby’s New York, 15 March 2017, lot 6.

A Very Rare Xuande Reserved Peony Dish
Rosemary Scott, Independent Scholar

This rare dish is one of a pair of Xuande dishes, decorated with large peony blossoms reserved against a deep cobalt blue ground, which were owned by the French aristocrat Baron Guy de Villelume (1908-91). The current dish was sold by Sotheby’s New York on 15 March 2017, lot 6. The pair to the current dish was sold at Bonhams London, lot 110, 3 November 2022. These two dishes are not only rare in terms of their decoration, but are larger than the majority of Xuande dishes ornamented with similar decorative schemes. They must have looked extremely impressive displayed at the Baron’s home at Château de La Gorgue. Château de La Gorgue had been the residence of Baron Guy de Villelume’s maternal ancestors since before the French Revolution (1789-99). In addition to Chinese ceramics, the Baron is also known to have collected watercolours, some of which were exhibited in the Salon des Artistses Français in 1933.

For centuries the reign of the Ming dynasty Xuande Emperor (1426-35) has been the most highly esteemed period for imperial blue and white porcelain. This period is also acclaimed for the quality of its monochrome cobalt blue glazes, which are admired for their jewel-like colour and rich depth. The bold white designs on the current dish, stands out particularly effectively against this sumptuous blue glaze. The details of petal outlines, veining, and other textures of the flowering and fruiting sprays on the dish were created using finely incised anhua decoration under the colourless glaze which covers those areas reserved in white against the deep blue ground.

Reserved decoration, in which the designs appear in white against a coloured ground, was used on Jingdezhen porcelain in the Yuan dynasty. Large Yuan dynasty blue and white dishes sometimes included reserved floral scrolls against a blue ground in the decoration of their cavettos. This Yuan blue ground was sometimes painted as a solid colour under the glaze, accompanied by painted leaf veins and flower petals, as on the large dish in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which has decoration using a similar technique in its central medallion (illustrated in Splendors in Smalt - Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, Shanghai, 2012, pp. 110-1, no. 26). Sometimes large Yuan dishes have moulded peony scrolls in the cavetto, which are reserved in white against a ground that has been painted with underglaze blue striations, as on a large dish from the collection of the National Museum of Iran (illustrated in Splendors in Smalt - Art of Yuan Blue-and-white Porcelain, op. cit., pp. 138-9, no. 39). A rare group of Yuan dynasty dishes, and a small number of other forms, are decorated in a technique closer to that seen on the current dish. On these the white design - usually a dragon and flaming pearl - is displayed against a cobalt blue ground, as is apparent on the dish in the collection of Sir Percival David (illustrated by R. Scott in Harmonious Form and Elegant Decoration - Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, p. 24, no. 9). In the case of this Yuan dish, the white dragon has been cut out of thin clay, which has been laid on top of the blue and then given a colourless glaze. On the David dish, the blue can be seen beneath the thin clay of the dragon’s body.

In the 1980s, excavations at the Ming Yongle strata at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen unearthed a very small number of vessels with white designs reserved against a monochrome copper red background. One of these is a small ewer excavated from the late Yongle stratum, discussed in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong, 1989, pp. 152-3, no. 35 (although the authors of Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1996, pp. 278-9, no. 108, describe the same vessel as having underglaze red). The Ming Xuande reign saw increased imperial interest and patronage of the kilns at Jingdezhen, which resulted in increased production and increased experimentation with decorative techniques. Dishes with bold floral and fruiting sprays of the type seen on the current dish and related dishes were the subject of much of the experimentation in regard to colour contrasts. Thus, similar designs in a variety of colour combinations have been excavated from the Xuande strata at the imperial kilns, including: blue on white, white against blue, blue against yellow, blue against turquoise, and brown against white (see Xuande Imperial Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1998, pp. 83-9).

The Xuande dishes with bold flowering and fruiting sprays were decorated in three distinct, but related, designs. One of the designs had in the centre of the interior a spray of flowering pomegranate, and four fruiting sprays of peach, lychee, loquat, and persimmon in the cavetto. While on the exterior sides were four sprays of lotus (see J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 140, no. 4:41). (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1 Blue and white reserve-decorated dish, Xuande mark and period. After Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 140, no. 4:41. © The Trustees of the British Museum

A second version had a spray of blossoming gardenia in the centre of the interior, with three fruiting sprays of pomegranates, persimmons, and grapes, accompanied by a tied bunch of lotus flowers in the cavetto. On the exterior was a camellia scroll (for a blue on yellow example see Xuande Imperial Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, op. cit., p. 89, no. 88). (Fig. 2) The third, and rarest, of these designs, usually seen on larger dishes, is the one on the current dish - comprises a flowering peony spray in the centre of the interior, and in the cavetto six fruiting sprays of pomegranate, loquat, cherry, persimmon, peach, and lychee.

Fig. 2 Yellow-ground underglaze-blue-decorated dish, Xuande mark and period. After Xuande Imperial Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1998, p. 89, no. 88.

On the exterior is a chrysanthemum scroll (for a blue on white and a blue on yellow example of this design - both excavated in 1983 - see Xuande Imperial Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, op. cit., p. 86, no. 85-2, and p. 87, no. 85-3, respectively, and for another blue on yellow example, see Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, op. cit., pp. 278-9, no. 98). All these examples are of similar size to the current dish.

It is notable that all of the decorative schemes comprising a flowering peony spray with large central bloom, in the centre, and fruiting sprays in the cavetto, display the same arrangement of both the peony spray and the choice and order of the fruiting sprays – clockwise: pomegranate, loquat, cherry, persimmon, peach, and lychee.

Present lot illustrated (details).

This accords with what we know of the organisation of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, where specified patterns were followed by the ceramic artists. Each creation would be hand drawn, and thus slightly different, but they would all follow the same arrangement. While on dishes, such as the current example, the precise outline of individual leaves or petals varied slightly from dish to dish, there is even a minor variation in the orientation of the fruiting sprays in relation to the central blossoming spray. For instance, comparing the current dish with the other example formerly owned by Baron de Villelume, it can be seen that on the current dish the fruiting pomegranate spray lines up with the group of two leaves on the left-hand side, while on the other dish, the pomegranate spray appears between the group of two leaves and the single leaf above them.

A large Xuande dish of the same size and design as the current dish - also with the design reserved against a blue ground - is in the collection of the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka and has been designated an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese authorities. The Osaka dish is published in Masterpieces of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1990, p. 51, no. 26 (Fig. 3), where the authors mention two other similar dishes in collections and a third excavated at the site of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen. One of these similar dishes is published by Geng Baochang in Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Beijing, 1988, p. 64, fig. 111. (Fig. 4)

Fig. 3 Blue and white reserved-decorated dish, Xuande mark and period. Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka. After Masterpieces of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1990, p. 51, no. 26. © The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (gift of SUMITOMO Group, the ATAKA Collection), photograph by NISHIKAWA Shigeru.

Fig. 4 Blue and white reserve-decorated dish, Xuande mark and period. After Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Beijing, 1988, p. 64, fig. 111. © Palace Museum, Beijing.

The decorative technique of reserving a white design against a cobalt blue glazed ground can be seen on a number of other vessels excavated from the Xuande stratum at the imperial kilns. A dish with daylilies in the centre and vegetal scrolls in the cavetto, excavated in 1983, and a dish decorated fish in a lotus pond was excavated in 1993 (see Xuande Imperial Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, op. cit., p. 84, no. 82-3 and p. 85, no. 83, respectively) (Figs. 5 and 6).

Fig. 5 Blue and white reserve-decorated dish, Xuande mark and period. After Xuande Imperial Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1998, p. 84, no. 82-3.

Fig. 6 Blue and white reserve-decorated dish, Xuande mark and period. After Xuande Imperial Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1998, p. 85, no. 83.

A similar fish and lotus pond dish is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, as is a bowl decorated using the same technique and motifs (see Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, pp.416-7, no. 181, and pp. 318-9, no. 132, respectively). While the majority of the vessels decorated in this technique are dishes or bowls, other forms were occasionally decorated in this way, including a stem cup with the design of fish and lotus pond reserved in white against a cobalt blue glaze, which was excavated in 1984 from the Xuande stratum at the Ming imperial kilns at Zhushan, Jingdezhen (illustrated in in Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China – 14 – Jiangxi, Beijing, 2008, p. 180, no. 180). This stem cup has a four-character underglaze blue mark written on the underside of the cup inside the foot, which has a clear glaze. The bases of the bowls and small dishes decorated using this technique are generally glazed, but the bases of the larger dishes, like the current example are usually left unglazed and generally fire to a reddish-brown colour in the kiln, possibly due to the application of a thin dressing prior to firing.

The technique of reserving a design in white against a blue glaze was continued occasionally in the Chenghua reign, as in the case of the bowl with phoenixes amongst clouds, excavated in 1987 from the site of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen (illustrated in Complete Collection of Ceramic Art Unearthed in China – 14 – Jiangxi, Beijing, 2008, p. 206, no. 206). Both the six-character Chenghua mark and its two encircling rings are, like the decoration, reserved in white against the blue ground. After the Chenghua reign the technique of using blue glaze to provide the background for white designs was largely abandoned in favour of underglaze painted coloration. It is interesting to note that the Xuande style of bold decoration reserved against a blue ground was clearly admired by the Qing dynasty emperors. It is evident from a section in the Qing Archives relating to lacquer, that such Xuande dishes were displayed in the palace. The Archives note that on the 18th day of the third month, the chief eunuch Samha (who served as president of the Board of Rites in the Kangxi emperor’s reign) recorded that another eunuch, Maotuan, had presented a large Xuande dish with white designs reserved on a blue ground, as well as a wucai covered jar with a tian mark on the base, accompanied by an imperial decree requiring stands to be supplied to match the items before they were presented to the emperor. It is recorded that on the 17th day of the following month, Samha was able to match the Xuande dish with a zitan stand and present them to the emperor. (Fig. 7)

Fig. 7 Excerpt from Qing gong nei wu fu zao ban chu dang an zong hui (Comprehensive Archival Records from the Qing Imperial Household Department’s Workshops), vol. 9.

The admiration of the Qing court for Xuande dishes of this kind can also be seen in the fact that they inspired porcelains made at the Qing imperial kilns. Dishes with white floral designs reserved against a blue ground were made in the Yongzheng reign. An example in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York is illustrated by S. Valenstein in A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl. 248, and another was sold by Christie’s London on 14 May 2013, lot 189. Interestingly, the details of petal and leaf veins was depicted in fine raised slip lines on the Yongzheng dishes, rather than the use of finely incised lines, as seen on the Xuande vessels. It seems possible that this was due to the thinness of the Yongzheng colourless glaze, which would have enhanced the relief lines, while the Xuande glaze was thicker and also had a very feint bluish tinge, which enhanced the appearance of the incised lines as the glaze accumulated in the incisions.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 19-20 September 2024