Lot 3559. A large blue and white ‘Immortals’ bowl, Shunzhi period, circa 1650. Estimate $12,000 – $18,000. Price Realized $12,500. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The shallow bowl is decorated on the exterior with a mountainous river landscape scene including the Eight Daoist Immortals with their attributes beneath swirling clouds, and the Star God Shoulao seated beside a deer and a smoldering censer with an attendant nearby. The interior is decorated with a small landscape medallion. The base bears a large four-character mark reading yu tang jia qi (‘fine vessel for the jade hall’) within a double circle. 14 in. (35.3 cm.) diam. 

Provenance: S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., London, 1987.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: A wucai bowl, decorated with the same subject and of similar proportions, also bearing the yu tang jia qi mark, is in the Butler Family Collection and is illustrated by Michael Butler, Julia B. Curtis and Stephen Little in Shunzhi Porcelain: Treasures from an Unknown Reign, 1644-1661, Alexandria, VA, 2002, pp. 222-223, no. 74.

This theme also appears on two other pieces in the Curtis Collection, a large dish (lot 3560), and a small vase (lot 3564).

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza