A rare tianbai-glazed anhua-decorated 'lianzi' bowl, Ming dynasty, Yongle period...
Property from an important European collection
A rare tianbai-glazed anhua-decorated 'lianzi' bowl,
Ming dynasty, Yongle period
重要歐洲收藏
明永樂 甜白釉暗花蓮子盌
finely potted with deep rounded sides supported on a tall tapered foot, decorated in the anhua technique around the cavetto with a wide band of floral scroll, below a wave border at the rim, the exterior incised with all upright lotus leaves below a keyfret band
20.9 cm
Condition Report:
Excellent overall condition with its original lustre preserved. A small section of the rim is slightly unevenly potted.
整體品相極佳，釉光保存良好。口沿有一原生微瑕稍欠平整。
Catalogue Note:
The present bowl belongs to a group of sweet white-glazed (tianbai) porcelain bowls favoured during the Yongle period. Its subtle combination of incised and anhua decoration on a beautifully potted lianzi (lotus-bud) shape manifested one of the most classic decorative repertoires in the early Ming dynasty. Anhua, 'hidden decoration', was practised almost exclusively at the beginning of the Ming dynasty, from the Hongwu to the Xuande period, and only at Jingdezhen.
Elegantly potted with deep rounded sides, the present bowl is faintly incised on the exterior with a neat row of well-defined lotus petals below a keyfret band, while the interior is superbly decorated in anhua with alternating chrysanthemum and camellia blooms below a border of crested waves. A closely related bowl from the Eumorfopoulos Collection was sold in our London rooms, 30th May 1940, lot 312; another two in these rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 215, and 8th April 2023, lot 3689, the latter formerly from the collection of Carl Kempe (1884-1967).
The incised and moulded decoration is echoed in blue and white porcelain of the same period, such as a bowl in the Eli Lilly collection, now in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, included in the exhibition, Ming Porcelains. A Retrospective, China Institute in America, New York, 1971, cat. no. 5. The Yongle Emperor is believed, however, to have preferred monochrome white wares, and blue and white counterparts of such bowls only became popular later during the Xuande period.
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甜白釉創燒自永樂時期，深得天子喜愛，此盌即是。盌身薄胎細骨，刻蓮子紋，加飾暗花，纖巧輕靈，成就明初經典。暗花乃明朝伊始之獨創技法，僅於洪武至宣德三朝為景德鎮採用。
深壁圓弧流麗，口沿外側刻回紋，繞器一周，下方刻蓮瓣，疏朗可辨；口沿內側以暗花作水波紋，下方作菊與山茶相間。可比歐默福普洛斯舊藏一例，售於倫敦蘇富比1940年5月30日，編號312，另比香港蘇富比易手兩件，其一售於2013年10月8日，編號215，其二為卡爾肯普舊藏，售於2023年4月8日，編號3689。
所刻及暗花紋飾源於同時代青花瓷，可比一盌，原 Eli Lilly 寶蓄，現藏印第安納波利斯藝術博物館，展於《Ming Porcelains: A Retrospective》，華美協進社，紐約，1971年，編號5。此類蓮子盌雖不乏青花之作，然永樂帝尤對甜白單色瓷情有獨鍾，青花蓮子盌乃於宣德時期方見風靡。
Provenance:
Acquired from Edward T. Chow (1910-80) in the late 1960s.
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1960年代末購自仇焱之（1910-80年）
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Property from an important European collection
A rare tianbai-glazed anhua-decorated 'lianzi' bowl,
Ming dynasty, Yongle period
重要歐洲收藏
明永樂 甜白釉暗花蓮子盌
finely potted with deep rounded sides supported on a tall tapered foot, decorated in the anhua technique around the cavetto with a wide band of floral scroll, below a wave border at the rim, the exterior incised with all upright lotus leaves below a keyfret band
20.9 cm
Condition Report:
Excellent overall condition with its original lustre preserved. A small section of the rim is slightly unevenly potted.
整體品相極佳，釉光保存良好。口沿有一原生微瑕稍欠平整。
Catalogue Note:
The present bowl belongs to a group of sweet white-glazed (tianbai) porcelain bowls favoured during the Yongle period. Its subtle combination of incised and anhua decoration on a beautifully potted lianzi (lotus-bud) shape manifested one of the most classic decorative repertoires in the early Ming dynasty. Anhua, 'hidden decoration', was practised almost exclusively at the beginning of the Ming dynasty, from the Hongwu to the Xuande period, and only at Jingdezhen.
Elegantly potted with deep rounded sides, the present bowl is faintly incised on the exterior with a neat row of well-defined lotus petals below a keyfret band, while the interior is superbly decorated in anhua with alternating chrysanthemum and camellia blooms below a border of crested waves. A closely related bowl from the Eumorfopoulos Collection was sold in our London rooms, 30th May 1940, lot 312; another two in these rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 215, and 8th April 2023, lot 3689, the latter formerly from the collection of Carl Kempe (1884-1967).
The incised and moulded decoration is echoed in blue and white porcelain of the same period, such as a bowl in the Eli Lilly collection, now in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, included in the exhibition, Ming Porcelains. A Retrospective, China Institute in America, New York, 1971, cat. no. 5. The Yongle Emperor is believed, however, to have preferred monochrome white wares, and blue and white counterparts of such bowls only became popular later during the Xuande period.
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甜白釉創燒自永樂時期，深得天子喜愛，此盌即是。盌身薄胎細骨，刻蓮子紋，加飾暗花，纖巧輕靈，成就明初經典。暗花乃明朝伊始之獨創技法，僅於洪武至宣德三朝為景德鎮採用。
深壁圓弧流麗，口沿外側刻回紋，繞器一周，下方刻蓮瓣，疏朗可辨；口沿內側以暗花作水波紋，下方作菊與山茶相間。可比歐默福普洛斯舊藏一例，售於倫敦蘇富比1940年5月30日，編號312，另比香港蘇富比易手兩件，其一售於2013年10月8日，編號215，其二為卡爾肯普舊藏，售於2023年4月8日，編號3689。
所刻及暗花紋飾源於同時代青花瓷，可比一盌，原 Eli Lilly 寶蓄，現藏印第安納波利斯藝術博物館，展於《Ming Porcelains: A Retrospective》，華美協進社，紐約，1971年，編號5。此類蓮子盌雖不乏青花之作，然永樂帝尤對甜白單色瓷情有獨鍾，青花蓮子盌乃於宣德時期方見風靡。
Provenance:
Acquired from Edward T. Chow (1910-80) in the late 1960s.
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1960年代末購自仇焱之（1910-80年）
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Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
