A pair of rare anhua-decorated doucai conical bowls, Qing dynasty, Kangxi / Yongzheng period | 清康熙 / 雍正 鬥彩米芾拜石圖暗花笠式盌一對
A pair of rare anhua-decorated doucai conical bowls
Qing dynasty, Kangxi / Yongzheng period
清康熙 / 雍正 鬥彩米芾拜石圖暗花笠式盌一對
the base of each inscribed with an apocryphal Chenghua six-character mark in underglaze blue, wood stands (4)
《大明成化年製》仿款
Diameter 2⅞ in., 7.4 cm
Condition Report:
One with a minute original 2mm glaze gap to the rim and a minute nick to the foot. The other with a small area of light touch-up to the foot, possibly to cover an original firing tear.
一盌口沿處見一0.2公分原始微小缩釉點，足見一極微磕痕。另一盌足部見一處微修，或為遮蓋原始窰燒瑕疵。
For more information on and additional videos for this lot, please contact serina.wei@sothebys.com
Catalogue Note:
Finely painted in a Ming style with the poet, painter and calligrapher Mi Fu bowing toward a large garden rock, flanked by an attendant besides, the present pair of conical cups is extremely rare. The painting style and doucai palette is based on Chenghua period porcelain. Although no exact prototpe appears to exist, compare a small blue and white cup painted with the calligrapher Wang Xizhi observing geese, together with his son Wang Xianzhi, attributed to the late Chenghua period, illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua. Imperial Porcelain of the Chenghua Reign Excavated from Zhushan, Jingdezhen, The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. C54.
Born in Taiyuan, Mi Fu (1051-1107) is regarded as one of the four greatest calligraphers of the Song dynasty. An eccentric man, he was widely known to have been a lover and collector of stones, earning the nickname Mi Dian or 'Madman Mi' for his obsession. The present scene depicts an episode when Mi Fu visited the garden of the governor of Wuwei (present-day Anhui) where he saw a wondrous rock. He dressed in official attire and bowed to the rock to pay his respects, addressing the stone as 'Elder Brother Rock'.
Compare a pair of conical cups of the same form and design, although slightly larger in size (9.8cm diameter) sold four times in our Hong Kong rooms, 16th November 1973, lot 204; 16th May 1977, lot 138; 24th May 1979, lot 630 and 13th November 1990, lot 338. Conical doucai cups of this type are more commonly found with the design of boys at play in a garden terrace, such as a pair from the Koger Collection, illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics. The Koger Collection, London, 1985, pls 117 and 118, sold at Christie's New York, 19th September 2006, lot 347; and another sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 19th January 1988, lot 292.
Provenance:
Collection of Edward T. Chow (1910-1980).
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19th May 1981, lot 558.
Spink & Son Ltd., London.
Sotheby's New York, 19th November 1982, lot 301.
仇焱之（1910-1980）收藏
香港蘇富比1981年5月19日，編號558
Spink & Son Ltd.，倫敦
紐約蘇富比1982年11月19日，編號301
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A pair of rare anhua-decorated doucai conical bowls
Qing dynasty, Kangxi / Yongzheng period
清康熙 / 雍正 鬥彩米芾拜石圖暗花笠式盌一對
the base of each inscribed with an apocryphal Chenghua six-character mark in underglaze blue, wood stands (4)
《大明成化年製》仿款
Diameter 2⅞ in., 7.4 cm
Condition Report:
One with a minute original 2mm glaze gap to the rim and a minute nick to the foot. The other with a small area of light touch-up to the foot, possibly to cover an original firing tear.
一盌口沿處見一0.2公分原始微小缩釉點，足見一極微磕痕。另一盌足部見一處微修，或為遮蓋原始窰燒瑕疵。
For more information on and additional videos for this lot, please contact serina.wei@sothebys.com
Catalogue Note:
Finely painted in a Ming style with the poet, painter and calligrapher Mi Fu bowing toward a large garden rock, flanked by an attendant besides, the present pair of conical cups is extremely rare. The painting style and doucai palette is based on Chenghua period porcelain. Although no exact prototpe appears to exist, compare a small blue and white cup painted with the calligrapher Wang Xizhi observing geese, together with his son Wang Xianzhi, attributed to the late Chenghua period, illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua. Imperial Porcelain of the Chenghua Reign Excavated from Zhushan, Jingdezhen, The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. C54.
Born in Taiyuan, Mi Fu (1051-1107) is regarded as one of the four greatest calligraphers of the Song dynasty. An eccentric man, he was widely known to have been a lover and collector of stones, earning the nickname Mi Dian or 'Madman Mi' for his obsession. The present scene depicts an episode when Mi Fu visited the garden of the governor of Wuwei (present-day Anhui) where he saw a wondrous rock. He dressed in official attire and bowed to the rock to pay his respects, addressing the stone as 'Elder Brother Rock'.
Compare a pair of conical cups of the same form and design, although slightly larger in size (9.8cm diameter) sold four times in our Hong Kong rooms, 16th November 1973, lot 204; 16th May 1977, lot 138; 24th May 1979, lot 630 and 13th November 1990, lot 338. Conical doucai cups of this type are more commonly found with the design of boys at play in a garden terrace, such as a pair from the Koger Collection, illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics. The Koger Collection, London, 1985, pls 117 and 118, sold at Christie's New York, 19th September 2006, lot 347; and another sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 19th January 1988, lot 292.
Provenance:
Collection of Edward T. Chow (1910-1980).
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19th May 1981, lot 558.
Spink & Son Ltd., London.
Sotheby's New York, 19th November 1982, lot 301.
仇焱之（1910-1980）收藏
香港蘇富比1981年5月19日，編號558
Spink & Son Ltd.，倫敦
紐約蘇富比1982年11月19日，編號301
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Estimate
Reserve
Time, Location
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