Two blue and white 'Ling Long' bowls, Qing dynasty, Kangxi (1662-1722).
For condition report contact specialist
The pair of small bowls are constructed with a double wall - the outer wall having been cut and carved before firing in a decorative process known as “ling long” or “devils-work”. The inner wall was then painted with flowering foliage in under glaze blue and then luted to the bowl at both the rim and foot. The piercing to the outer wall is of a trellis pattern divided by roundels each decorated with a swastika in under glaze blue. Diameter 8 cm
Restored fritts.
Provenance
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.
Purchased from Geoffrey Waters Antique Chinese Porcelain, London, June 2003.
Literature
For a similar bowl with “devils–work” but in the famille verte palet see “ Famille Verte: Chinese Porcelain in Green Enamels” by Christiaan J A Jorg, Page 55, No 52.
For a near identical larger pair of bowls see “Kangxi: The Jie Rui Tang Collection”, Sotheby’s New York, 20 March 2018, Lot 359.