A blue and white bowl, Qing dynasty, Kangxi (1662-1722).
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Decorated to the interior with four depictions of Ma Gu Xian Shou, all of which are arranged around a raised central boss. The outside is decorated with four groups of flowers, “The Flowers of the Four Seasons” which are painted below an outer border carved in a variation of the Linlong technique. Width: 19 cm
Insignificant wear.
Provenance
Purchased from the Jarras Collection, Christie’s King Street, June 1990, Lot 23.
The Avalon Collection.
This collection, which in the main focuses on the Interregnum and Kangxi periods has been both carefully and sensitively formed over the last twenty-five years. The collector, a member of the English Oriental Ceramic Society, has assembled the collection with an eye for provenance whilst purchasing from old European collections, well-established antique dealers and at auction.
Academically, the pieces have been well researched both in terms of their symbolism and narrative themes. In many instances the imagery on the pieces has been referenced to episodes in the romantic and historic novels of Chinese mythology, which were used extensively in the decoration of seventeenth century Chinese porcelain.
Formed over ten years before the sales, the first part of which, comprising 113 lots, was sold by Christie’s in June 1990, with provenances cited in the catalogue of E T Chow, E Carew-Shaw, Sir Michael Butler, The Hatcher Collection, Martin-Hurst and Mottahedeh. The second part was sold in October 1991 at Christie’s Hong Kong.
Literature
For an identical bowl see the Victoria and Albert Museum Collection, London, c 942 – 1910 and “ The Catalogue of the George Eumorfopoulos Collection of Chinese, Korean and Persian Pottery and Porcelain – Volume V”, by R L Hobson, ref E40 Plate 9.
For another identical bowl, see the Metropolitan Museum Collection, New York, no 79.2.403.
There are five similar bowls in the collection formed by Augustus The Strong at Dresden and listed in the inventory of 1721.
More information
Lady Ma Gu Xian Shou, was a Taoist goddess associated with fortune, longevity and auspiciousness – sometimes referred to as the Goddess of Hemp. This relates to a story, as depicted in the classic novel “Journey to the West” in which Lady Ma attended the peach banquet held by the Queen Mother of the West, in which she had made a special brew of wine made from cannabis. The depiction of Lady Ma shows her with presents of peaches and baskets of herbs and flowers on her way to the heavenly party, which took place every ten thousand tears.