Chinese Porcelain from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming sold at Christie's NY, 21 sept. & 22 sept. 2023

20 octobre 2023

Chinese Porcelain from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming sold at Christie's NY, 21 sept. & 22 sept. 2023

Yu Chunming (b. 1955) graduated from China Academy of Art, Zhejiang Province, in 1982 and served as a professor in the department of architecture at the Nanchang University in Jiangxi province from 1982 to 1996. Originally trained as an oil painter, Professor Yu has held more than two dozen personal exhibitions in galleries and museums and his paintings of traditional Chinese architecture have been collected by institutions around the world. Later in his academic career, Professor Yu became a visiting scholar in the East Asian Studies Department at University of California, Los Angeles in 1997, and specialized in the history and culture of regional folk houses in China.

It was after he immigrated to the US that Professor Yu developed a zealous enthusiasm for collecting and studying Chinese export porcelain, acquiring some of the finest examples offered by notable dealers and auction houses in the US and Europe. In 2012, Professor Yu donated over 200 pieces of Chinese porcelain to the Nanchang University Museum, which became the foundation of the museum’s collection. He has since authored five books dedicated to the research of Chinese export porcelain and European armorial porcelains. These publications have been an indispensable academic contribution to the field and promote the interest in and studies of this category of Chinese ceramics. Together with his wife Zhuang Wenjin, Professor Yu amassed an encyclopedic collection of top-quality porcelain. The couple fervently sought examples decorated with unusual and rare scenes and motifs, which they considered an important resource for showcasing ancient Chinese legends and symbols. The Chinese stories depicted on porcelains became a subtle conduit to the cultural exchange between China and the West.

The following section of porcelains represents a refined group of famille rose wares from this collection. This type of finely potted and exquisitely enameled wares was made during the short reigns of Yongzheng (1723-1735) and appear to have found favor with both the export and domestic markets. Examples can be found today in both Western and Chinese institutions, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Illustrious collectors in the West such as August the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony (1670-1733) acquired them in the 18th century, and later in the early 20th century these delicate wares experienced a renaissance with western collectors, particularly in America, including noteworthy Gilded Age figures such as J. P. Morgan (1837-1913) and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1839-1937).

Lot 1079. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A blue and white elephant-form kendi, Wanli period (1573-1620); 22.2 cm high. Price realised USD 6,300 (Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000) © Christie's 2023

Provenance: Bonhams San Francisco, 16 March 2010, lot 8181.

Literature: Yu Chunming, Zhongguo ming pian: Ming Qing wai xiao ci tan yuan yu shou cang, Beijing, 2011, cover and p. 23.
Yu Chunming, Ming jia dai ni shang Ming dai ming ci, Nanchang, 2017, p. 70, pls. 6-2 and 6-3.

Exhibited: San Diego, San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, World in Porcelain: 16th-19th Chinese Export Porcelain, 15 September 2018-19 January 2019.

Note: A similar double-gourd vase, but with the addition of gilt decoration, designated as an Important Cultural Property, is illustrated in The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, ed., The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Osaka, 2017, pp. 166-7, no. 63.

Lot 1080. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A blue and white 'landscape' dish, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 20.2 cm diam. Price realised USD 6,930 (Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000) © Christie's 2023

The reverse is inscribed with an apocryphal Chenghua mark.

Provenance: Robert McPherson, London (according to label).

Exhibited: San Diego, San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, World in Porcelain: 16th-19th Chinese Export Porcelain, 15 September 2018-19 January 2019.

Lot 1081. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A blue and white 'Seeking Talent' vase, guanyin zun, Kangxi period (1662-1722-1620); 43.2 cm high. Price realised USD 88,200 (Estimate USD 50,000 – USD 70,000) © Christie's 2023

Provenance: Museum 't Coopmanshûs, Franeker, The Netherlands.
Christie's Paris, 13 June 2013, lot 166.

Literature: Oude Kunst-en Antiekbeurs, Delft, 1990.
Yu Chunming, Ming jia dai ni shang Qing dai ming ci, vol. 1, Nanchang, 2017, p. 16, pl. 1.

Exhibited: Delft, Smelik & Stokking Antique Dealers, Oude Kunst-en Antiekbeurs, 1990.
San Diego, San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, World in Porcelain: 16th-19th Chinese Export Porcelain, 15 September 2018-19 January 2019.

Lot 1082. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A famille verte 'Scholars' vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722-1620); 29 cm high. Price realised USD 40,320 (Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000) © Christie's 2023

Exhibited: San Diego, San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, World in Porcelain: 16th-19th Chinese Export Porcelain, 15 September 2018-19 January 2019.

Lot 1083. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A famille verte 'Yang warrior' dish, Kangxi period (1662-1722-1620); 32 cm diam. Price realised USD 50,400 (Estimate USD 10,000 – USD 15,000) © Christie's 2023

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York.

Exhibited: San Diego, San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, World in Porcelain: 16th-19th Chinese Export Porcelain, 15 September 2018-19 January 2019.

Lot 1084. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A blue-enameled 'eggshell' 'Lady and Scholar' dish, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); 32 cm diam. Price realised USD 13,860 (Estimate USD 5,000 – USD 7,000) © Christie's 2023

Provenance: Bluett & Sons, London (according to label).
Cohen & Cohen, London.

Exhibited: San Diego, San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, World in Porcelain: 16th-19th Chinese Export Porcelain, 15 September 2018-19 January 2019.

Lot 1086. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A pair of famille rose 'pheasant' dishes, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); 21 cm diam. Price realised USD 20,160 (Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 7,000) © Christie's 2023

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York.

Exhibited: San Diego, San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, World in Porcelain: 16th-19th Chinese Export Porcelain, 15 September 2018-19 January 2019.

Lot 1088. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A famille rose 'eggshell' ruby-back 'Lady and Children' dish, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); 21 cm diam. Price realised USD 23,940 (Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000) © Christie's 2023

Provenance: Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York.

Exhibited: San Diego, San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, World in Porcelain: 16th-19th Chinese Export Porcelain, 15 September 2018-19 January 2019.

Lot 1089. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A small famille rose dish, Yongzheng-Qianlong period (1723-1795); 16.5 cm diam. Price realised USD 23,940 (Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000) © Christie's 2023

Lot 1090. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A famille rose 'cockkerels' dish, Yongzheng-Qianlong period (1723-1795); 21 cm diam. Price realised USD 5,292 (Estimate USD 2,000 – USD 3,000) © Christie's 2023

Provenance: Garland Collection, no. 849 (according to label).
Morgan Collection, no. 1093 (according to label).
Christie's New York, 1-2 April 2014, lot 121.

Exhibited: San Diego, San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, World in Porcelain: 16th-19th Chinese Export Porcelain, 15 September 2018-19 January 2019.

Lot 1091. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A famille rose 'eggshell' ruby-back 'Lady and Children' dish, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); 20.4 cm diam. Price realised USD 10,710 (Estimate USD 6,000 – USD 8,000) © Christie's 2023

Provenance: Santos, London.

Exhibited: San Diego, San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, World in Porcelain: 16th-19th Chinese Export Porcelain, 15 September 2018-19 January 2019.

Lot 1092. Property from the Collection of Professor and Mrs. Yu Chunming. A pair of famille rose cups and saucers, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); Saucers: 11.5 cm diam., Cups: 7.3 cm diam. Price realised USD 7,560 (Estimate USD 4,000 – USD 6,000) © Christie's 2023