A very rare and finely enamelled pair of famille-rose 'Tea poem' bowls and covers, Seal marks and period of Jiaqing. Photo: Sotheby's.

each bowl with rounded sides rising to an everted rim, the exterior inscribed in black enamel with a poem, ending with 'mid-Spring' of the year of Dingsi (corresponding to 1797) and two seal marks in iron-red reading Jia and Qing, all between thin green-ground bands enclosing four gilt shou characters interrupted by four floral scrolls and four pairs of confronting kui dragons detailed in the famille-rose palette, the interior and base enamelled in turquoise, the base further inscribed in iron-red with a six-character seal mark, each cover similarly decorated with the same poetical inscription and famille-rose bands, the interior of the circular finial with a six-character seal mark in iron-red against a turquoise-enamelled ground; 11.2 cm., 4 3/8 in. Estimate 4,500,000 — 5,500,000 HKD

Provenance: A private Australian collection.
Sotheby's London, 10th November 2010, lot 297.

Notes: This pair of bowls is extremely rare, the inscription delicately inscribed on a pristine white ground within enamelled borders, and only one other closely related pair is known, sold in these rooms, 20th May 1980, lot 237, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th May 2012, lot 4001.

For a single bowl and cover of this type, but decorated with floral scroll borders and possibly from another set, is illustrated in Qingdai ciqi Shangjian, Shanghai, 1994, p. 202, pl. 259, from the Shanghai Wenwu Shangdian.

Stephen W. Bushell, in Oriental Ceramic Art, London, 1981, p. 239, translates the poem on the bowls as follows:

Finest tribute tea of the first picking
And a bright full moon prompt a line of verse.
A lively fire glows in the bamboo stove.
The water is boiling in the stone griddle,
Small bubbles rise like ears of fish or crab.
Of rare Ch’i-ch’iang tea, rolled in tony balls.
One cup is enough to lighten the heart,
And dissipate the early winter chill.

This poem adorned a variety of teawares and reveals the Jiaqing emperor’s enjoyment of tea. For a teapot and lobed dish, similarly enamelled on a lime-green ground, but with floral scrolls, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, see the Museum’s exhibition Empty Vessels, Replenished Minds. The Culture, Practice and Art of Tea, 2001, cat. nos. 169 and 170, together with a ruby-ground lobed dish, cat. no. 171.

Dated to the dingsi year of Jiaqing’s reign (corresponding to 1797) this poem was written by Jiaqing and adorned a variety of teawares which reveals his enjoyment of tea; see a teapot and lobed dish, similarly enamelled on a lime-green ground but with floral scrolls, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition Empty Vessels, Replenished Minds. The Culture, Practice and Art of Tea, 2001, cat. nos 169 and 170, together with a ruby-ground lobed dish, cat. no. 171.

Bowls of this type were created under the Qianlong Emperor who was also particularly fond of tea-drinking. He is recorded to have made tea with freshly fallen snow on his return from visiting Mount Wutai. Made with Longjing tea leaves, prunus blossoms, pine nut kernels and finger citrus, the brew inspired Qianlong to compose a poem in praise of the tea, entitled San Qing Cha (Three Purities Tea), which was inscribed onto tea vessels of various media, including porcelain, lacquer and jade; for example see a spinach green jade bowl, the poem carved and picked out in gold, sold in our New York rooms, 26th February 1982, lot 471, and again in these rooms, 8th April 2013, lot 3009; and a blue and white example included in the Special Exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 142.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong | 08 Apr 2014 -www.sothebys.com