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A FINE LARGE IMPERIAL YELLOW-ENAMELLED BOWL -

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A FINE LARGE IMPERIAL YELLOW-ENAMELLED BOWL
Estimate
(Set Currency)
    HK$1,500,000 - HK$2,000,000
  • ($194,135 - $258,847)

Sale Information

Sale 2811
The Imperial Sale Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
31 May 2010
Hong Kong Buy Catalog





Lot Description

A FINE LARGE IMPERIAL YELLOW-ENAMELLED BOWL
KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK WITHIN DOUBLE-CIRCLES AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)

The deep bowl of unusually large size with elegantly rounded sides and flaring rim supported on a sturdy footrim, all under a pale yellow enamel of egg-yolk tone, pooling slightly at the foot
12 3/8 in. (31.4 cm.) diam., box


清康熙 御製黃釉大盌 雙圈雙行六字楷書款

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Pre-Lot Text

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN

Provenance

The Hall Family Collection, no. 110
Collection of Mrs William van Horne, Montreal, Canada
Previously sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 2 May 2000, lot 526

Exhibited

Messrs. Marchant & Son, London, Recent Acquisitions 2008, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 32

Lot Notes

Kangxi bowls of this large size are very rare, especially those covered with imperial yellow enamel. The rich imperial yellow enamel became established on porcelain vessels in the early Ming, but there are few surviving examples.

In both the Ming and Qing dynasties this yellow enamel was either applied directly to the pre-fired body or on top of a high-fired glaze. The former method, as seen on the current bowl, typically gave a richer, warmer, colour, while the latter gave an even, slightly fluid, appearance. Porcelains such as the current vessel, which are completely covered with yellow enamel are particularly prized because, according to Qing regulations, only the emperor, empress or dowager empress could use vessels which were yellow both inside and out. Members of the court who were of lesser rank had to use combinations of colours appropriate to their station.

Yellow bowls were not only made for normal use in the Palace, they were also required for rituals conducted by the Emperor at the Diqitan, the Altar of Earth. It is possible that this bowl was intended for that purpose, since large bowls are shown on imperial altars in the diagrams of ritual vessels included in the Da Ming Huidian (The Collected Statutes of the Ming Empire) published in 1587. Although the diagrams show the layout of ritual vessels on the altars in the Ming period, similar large bowls would also have been used in Qing ceremonies.

For similar bowls of this size compare one illustrated by J. Ayers, The Baur Collection, Geneva, 1972, vol. 3, no. A446; another illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London 1994, vol. 2, p. 230, no. 893; and one in the Wang Xing Lou Collection, illustrated in Imperial Perfection, The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors, Hong Kong, 2004, no. 91. Yellow-enamelled bowls were also made in a slightly larger size (37.5 cm. diam.). A pair of bowls of this larger size is illustrated in Catalogue of Ming and Qing Monochrome Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1989, p. 33, nos. A522 a & b.

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