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28 octobre 2024

Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries

Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries

LONDON.- From 28 October to 15 November 2024, Eskenazi hosts an exhibition celebrating blue and white porcelain from the Yuan and early Ming dynasties, the first dedicated to the subject to be held at the gallery since 1994. The Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) saw the invention of blue and white porcelain as we know it today, producing a ware that has since been craved, copied, and widely celebrated worldwide.

Blue and white porcelain from the Yuan and early Ming dynasties presents seven exceptional and distinctive objects chosen for their quality including a cup, five dishes and an extraordinary guan jar – one of the rarest porcelain objects to be shown at Eskenazi. Each of these objects showcases the extraordinary achievement of potters creating blue and white porcelain in the 14th and early 15th century; its manufacture would baffle Europeans for centuries until the beginning of the 18th century when the Meissen manufactory mastered the technique.

The highlight of the exhibition is a magnificent and extremely rare guan jar which embodies the innovative, bold and ground-breaking nature of Yuan dynasty porcelain. It is one of a select group of only five known Yuan porcelain guan jars of this design, three of which are in museum collections (the British Museum, London; the Palace Museum, Beijing; and the Hebei Museum, Shijiazhuang). The other was acquired by Eskenazi in 2002 and is now in a private collection. Together, the five jars form a small group likely made for a patron at the highest level of Yuan society. They are not only unusual and visually striking, but technically would have been at the cutting edge of Yuan porcelain production, featuring the combined use of painted underglaze cobalt blue and underglaze copper-red decoration with applied relief elements using moulding, carving, incising and beaded borders.

Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries

Large underglaze blue and copper red porcelain jar (guan), Yuan dynasty, c. 1320 - 1352. Height: 33.0cm. © Eskenazi 2024

 

There appear to be only four other related guan jars of this rare type, three of which are in institutional collections. The famous example which belonged to Sir Percival David is now in the British Museum, London and while a pair excavated in Baoding, Hebei province in 1964, are now in the Palace Museum, Beijing and in Hebei Museum, Shijiazhuang. The fourth example is in a private collection.

Together, these five jars form a small and extremely rarified group, likely made for a patron at the highest level of Yuan society. They are not only unusual and visually striking, but technically would have been at the cutting edge of Yuan porcelain production, featuring the combined use of painted underglaze cobalt blue and underglaze copper-red decoration with applied relief elements using moulding, carving, incising and beaded borders

Illustrating the international influence and timeless appeal of Chinese blue and white ceramics, the exhibition also includes a Ming dynasty ‘three lotus’ dish closely related to an example in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The Eskenazi example bears a seventeenth century inscription indicating that it once belonged to the Mughal emperor Alamgir Shah (1658-1707). A Ming dynasty ‘grape’ dish is of the type that inspired Iznik potters in the 16th century; five similar examples which were formerly kept in the Ardabil Shrine are now in the National Museum of Iran, Tehran. The current example was last shown at Eskenazi in 1989 as part of the exhibition Chinese Art from the Reach Family collection.

Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries

Underglaze blue porcelain ‘three lotus’ dish, Ming dynasty, Yongle period, 1403 - 1424. Diameter: 37.3cm. © Eskenazi 2024

 

This beautifully painted dish is incised on the exterior of the foot-ring with a Persian inscription which reads: cĀlamgīr Shāhī. This may be translated as ‘Belonging to cĀlamgīr Shah’ and most likely refers to the famous Mughal emperor and patron of the arts cĀlamgīr I (Awrangzib) (r. 1658 - 1707).

Blue and white porcelain has always been a particular favourite of the company’s founder, Giuseppe Eskenazi, and the gallery has been handling works since 1960. All but two of the objects in this exhibition have previously been handled by the gallery. This includes a large Yuan dynasty underglaze blue porcelain dish with a beautifully painted central scene of a lotus pond that was formerly in the celebrated collections of both E. T. Chow (1910-1980) and Hans Konrad König (1923-2016); it was shown alongside the ‘three lotus’ dish mentioned above at Eskenazi’s autumn exhibition in 1994, the last time the gallery held a show dedicated to blue and white porcelain.

Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries

Large underglaze blue porcelain dish with painted and moulded decoration, Yuan dynasty, c. 1320 - 1352. Diameter: 46.7cm. © Eskenazi 2024

 

The vibrant and striking decoration on this large dish is characteristic of the very best of Yuan blue and white porcelain. In the centre, the dish is boldly painted with a scene of a pond with four large lotus plants bearing opulent blooms, buds and large leaves. This contrasts with the moulded relief decoration on the rim and cavetto, both reserved in white against a rich cobalt blue ground.

 

A remarkable Ming dynasty ‘Three Friends of Winter’ dish was placed in a private collection through Eskenazi in the 1990s and has subsequently been on loan at Denver Art Museum (1995-2005) and Middlebury College Museum of Art, Vermont (2006-2015). The grouping of bamboo, prunus and pine, known collectively as the ‘Three Friends of Winter’, is an enduring motif in China, found in painting and throughout the decorative arts. The bamboo was valued for its endurance, the ability to bend but not break while the pine, as another evergreen, was also seen as a symbol of fortitude. The prunus is one of the earliest flowering trees and was also associated with resilience and rejuvenation. Together, the three came to symbolize fortitude and determination and by extension, the ideal qualities of a Confucian ‘scholar-gentleman’.
 

Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries

Underglaze blue porcelain ‘three friends’ dish, Ming dynasty, Yongle period, 1403 - 1424. Diameter: 32.0cm. © Eskenazi 2024

 

The grouping of bamboo, prunus and pine, known collectively as the ‘Three Friends of Winter’, is an enduring motif in China, found in painting, on porcelain and throughout the decorative arts. The bamboo was valued for its endurance, the ability to bend but not break while the pine, as another evergreen, was also seen as a symbol of fortitude. The prunus is one of the earliest flowering trees and was therefore associated with resilience and rejuvenation. Together, the three came to symbolize fortitude, hope and determination and by extension, the ideal qualities of a Confucian ‘scholar-gentleman’.

Another object in the exhibition which has previously passed through the gallery is a Ming dynasty cup painted with flowering branches which is similar to two examples now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. It has a long and distinguished exhibition history having previously been on display at Philadelphia Museum of Art (1949), The Art Institute of Chicago (1949-50), Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts (1959), Fogg Art Museum, Massachusetts (1959), and the Oriental Ceramic Society (2016). A blue porcelain ‘pomegranate’ dish bears the mark of the emperor Xuande (1426- 1435) and was produced at the Jingdezhen kilns for the imperial court. Only a handful of similar examples in blue and white from this period are known; four are in museum collections (the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, National Palace Museum, Taipei and Suzhou Museum).

Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries

Underglaze blue porcelain cup, Ming dynasty, Yongle period, 1403 - 1424. Diameter: 9.1cm. © Eskenazi 2024

 

Formerly in various collections, including that of Richard Bryant Hobart (1885 - 1963) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, this cup featured in the famous 1949 Exhibition of Blue-decorated Porcelain of the Ming Dynasty which travelled to Philadelphia Museum of Art and to The Art Institute of Chicago.

Such cups from the Yongle period are very rare. Two related cups are in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, one decorated with flower sprays and another with lingzhi fungus. Another, with lingzhi fungus, was excavated from the Yongle strata at Dongmentou, Zhushan, Jingdezhen in 1994.

This autumn exhibition coincides with the 27th edition of Asian Art in London (30 October to 8 November 2024), the annual event that unites London’s Asian art dealers, major auction houses and societies in a series of selling exhibitions, auctions, receptions, and seminars. Visit www.asianartinlondon.com for more information.

Eskenazi Ltd is widely recognised as one of the world’s leading galleries for Chinese and East Asian works of art and its exhibitions are always eagerly awaited for the rarity and beauty of the objects offered. The family business was founded in Milan in 1923 and the Eskenazi name has since become synonymous with expertise in this area. Giuseppe Eskenazi, who has been head of the business for over fifty years, has an unrivalled reputation for his knowledge and love of the subject and clients have included over eighty of the world’s major museums as well as private collectors.

While Eskenazi’s London office had opened much earlier in 1960, it was not until 1972 that a purpose-built gallery space for themed exhibitions was opened at Foxglove House, Piccadilly, having been designed by John Prizeman (1930-1992), past president of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Giuseppe’s son Daniel joined the business in 1993, and the same year it moved to a specially designed six-floor gallery on Clifford Street in Mayfair, London, designed by Jon Bannenberg (1929-2002). This has since been the venue for the company’s annual autumn exhibitions which are always eagerly awaited for the rarity and beauty of the objects offered. More recently, it also hosts a summer series of exhibitions dedicated to more diverse and accessible subjects related to East Asian art and the aesthetic of the Chinese literati.

Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries

Underglaze blue porcelain ‘grape’ dish, Ming dynasty, Yongle period, 1403 - 1424. Diameter: 37.8cm. © Eskenazi 2024

 

First exhibited by Eskenazi in 1989 as part of the Reach collection, this dish is beautifully painted with a design of three bunches of grapes hanging from a vine, the space filled with luscious fruit, palmate leaves and twisting tendrils. Examples of this type of dish are found in museum collections, including five formerly kept in the Ardabil Shrine and now in the National Museum of Iran, Tehran. The design was later a source of inspiration for Iznik potters making dishes in the first half of the sixteenth century.

Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries
Eskenazi celebrates early blue and white Chinese porcelain from the 14th and 15th centuries

Underglaze blue porcelain ‘pomegranate’ dish, Ming dynasty, Xuande mark and period, 1426 - 1435. Diameter: 30.0cm. © Eskenazi 2024

 

Delicately painted in the centre with a leafy pomegranate branch bearing blooms and buds in rich, bright cobalt tones, this dish is an extremely rare example of its kind, produced at the kilns at Jingdezhen for the imperial court. Only a handful of similar examples in blue and white from the Xuande period are known. Four are in museum collections including the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, the National Palace Museum, Taipei and the Suzhou Museum.

This dish is part of a wider and distinct family, featuring different flowering plants, produced in a variety of colours over the course of the Ming dynasty. It appears to have been an innovation of the Xuande period and it is possible that the blue and white versions such as the present example were the original prototypes.

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