A famille verte conical bowl, Qing dynasty, Kangxi (1662-1722).
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In the centre of the glazed base is an apocryphal Xuande reign mark within a double circle. Unusual in shape - having wide flaring sides that rise from a short tapered foot to an everted rim. The exterior is decorated in bright enamels and depicts two scenes, both of which are taken from the story of the “ Romance of the Western Chamber”. One illustration is set at night – the inference being drawn from the inclusion into the scene of both the moon and a star constellation – and represents the episode in which Zhang Sheng meets Cui Yingying after climbing a wall of the Salvation Monastery– the maid Hong Niang is shown standing to one side.
The second scene is thought to be that of Zhang Sheng with his boy attendant, both resting at an inn on their way to the capital, where Zhang Sheng is due to take the highest level of imperial examinations.
The inside of the rim is decorated with the “Eight Buddhist Symbols” and the central medallion depicts the “ Three Friends of Winter”. Diameter 20 cm.
Restored.
Provenance
Purchased at Woolley & Wallis 2012.
The Avalon Collection Part II.
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.
Literature
For similar scenes from the story of the “Romance of the Western Chamber” see “Famille Verte Chinese Porcelain in Green Enamels” by Christiaan J.A. Jorg, No 94, Scenes 16 and 23, Pages 100 – 101.