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34
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34. RARE BLUE-WHITE PORCELAIN PLATE
Ming dynasty, Yongle per…
See original version (French)
34
-
34. RARE BLUE-WHITE PORCELAIN PLATE
Ming dynasty, Yongle per…
See original version (French)
Estimate €80,000 - €100,000
Voluntary lot
Description
34. RARE BLUE-WHITE PORCELAIN PLATE
Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1424)
A RARE BLUE AND WHITE 'LOTUS' DISH
Ming Dynasty, Yongle period
With shallow rounded sides rising from a short tapered foot, finely painted to the interior with undulating lotus scrolls issuing five luscious lotus blooms arranged around a central, larger lotus flower, the well similarly painted beneath a classic scroll border, the exterior painted with a chrysanthemum scroll above a classic scroll around the foot and a keyfret band around the rim, the base unglazed.
28 cm (11 in.) diam.
Provenance:
Christie's Hong Kong, 8 October 1990, lot 420.
The Leshantang Collection, Taipei.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9 April 2024, lot 129.
Published:
Geng Baochang (ed.) (et.al), The Leshantang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Taipei, 2005, pl. 6.
明永樂 青花纏枝蓮紋盤
來源
香港佳士得，1990年10月8日，編號420
樂山堂收藏，臺北
香港蘇富比，2024年4月9日，編號129
出版
《樂山堂藏瓷》，台北，2005年，圖版6
Porcelains decorated with blue and white designs first appeared in the Tang dynasty but the technique of applying cobalt blue pigment under the glaze onto a greyish-white porcelain body before firing was only perfected under the Yuan. Potters in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, refined clay recipes by adding kaolin clay, and mastered complex firing techniques using cobalt pigment produced in Yunnan province or imported from the Middle East. Highly skilled, they applied a variety of decorative techniques when painting blue and white porcelains, combining darker and lighter shades of blue to create striking contrast, using areas reserved in white to create pattern on a densely painted blue background, or simply drawing detailed outlines, creating subtle displays of 'heap and pile' characteristics, with varying tones of rich and brilliant cobalt blue visible on the present dish.
Dishes decorated with lotus blooms arranged around a central flower belong to an important group of early Ming blue and white wares, together with 'lotus bouquet' dishes, 'grape' dishes, 'melon' dishes and 'dragon' dishes, see John A. Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, D.C, 1956, p. 92. According to Regina Krahl, prior to the fifteenth century, motifs were treated like patterns, and these dishes show a move towards a more naturalistic approach, see Regina Krahl and John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. II, London, 1986, p. 506. Painted and coloured glazes and more naturalistic patterns and motifs show a shift towards more decorative designs. The undulating lotus scroll on the present dish is executed in a fluid and painterly fashion and represent a fine example. Compare a dish of similar size and design, sold in Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 October 2008, lot 2543. Compare also two dishes of this design in the Ardabil Shrine collection, published in J.R. Pope,ibid, pl. 34.
See original version (French)
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