A Chinese blue and white 'Hai Wu Tian Chou' shallow bowl, Ka...

Hammer

€28,000

A Chinese blue and white 'Hai Wu Tian Chou' shallow bowl, Kangxi mark and of the period

Dia.: 16 cm - H.: 5 cm

Provenance:
- S. Marchant and Son, London, with their label to the base.
- The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 18 May 2009 and accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scans)

Finely painted on the interior with a continuous landscape scene depicting immortals gathered on rocky outcrops beside a pavilion on an island in the sea. One figure holds a tally, while another gestures in conversation, beneath a crane flying overhead with a tally tablet in its beak. The exterior is decorated with a continuous mountainous river landscape.
The scene illustrates the auspicious theme hai wu tian chou ('adding another counter to the Sea House'), a visual pun associated with longevity. According to the legend, each time the sea is transformed into mulberry fields and then returns again, an additional tally is added to record the passage of time. The accumulation of these counters symbolises the attainment of an exceptionally long life. The crane, an emblem of longevity, immortality, and harmony, further reinforces this auspicious message, while the gathering of immortals engaged in discussion evokes wisdom, contemplation, and the enduring passage of time.
Bowls of this type belong to a refined group of early Kangxi period wares and are distinguished by their expressive brushwork, elegant compositions, and sophisticated narrative imagery.

Reference:
- Two near-identical examples were included by S. Marchant and Son, London, in their 1989 exhibition of 'Transitional Wares for the Japanese and Domestic Markets' , p. 36, nos. 48, 49.
- A near-identical example from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, illustrated in 'A Culture Revealed. Kangxi Era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection', 2017, pp. 84-85, no. 25. Sold with Sotheby's New York, 20 March 2018, lot 312. (sold USD 60.000,00)
- Another near-identical example sold at Christie's New York, 10 May 2011, lot 265. Later sold at Christie's London, 12 September 2018, lot 13. (sold GBP 25.000,00) Another sold with Sotheby's Hong Kong, 4 April 2012, lot 3232. (sold HKD 325.000,00)
- A closely related example is in The British Museum, London, registration number Franks.321.+. Another example is in the Butler Family Collection, illustrated by Katherine Butler and Teresa Canepa;'Leaping the Dragon Gate: The Sir Michael Butler Collection of Seventeenth-century Chinese Porcelain', p. 387, fig. III.4.28a,b.

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