拍品专文
This elegant and refined bowl is representative of the extraordinary techniques and the speed of development in Chinese porcelain production in the eighteenth century. Ruby-coloured enamel was originally developed in Europe, and can be seen on wares produced at Meissen and Sèvres, but Chinese craftsmen were able to make significant improvements: through the use of ground ruby glass, as well as reducing the proportion of colloidal gold and the amount of tin in the mixture, they created a more stable and even product which surpassed the European versions of this enamel.
Pink-enamelled wares from Yongzheng period are generally small vessels, combined with exceptionally fine porcelain body to emphasize the quality of the enamel. Pink-enamelled bowls with deep, rounded sides in the size of present lot are extremely rare, as most similar examples are slightly smaller, around 9.5 cm diameter. These examples include one in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, which was exhibited in The Special Exhibition of Qing Monochromes, Taipei, 1981, Catalogue, p. 49, no. 12 (fig. 2). A further Yongzheng bowl covered in rich ruby enamel on the exterior is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by S. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989 ed., p. 252, no. 255.
Most other examples of this type of tea bowls are decorated with anhua dragons, see two formerly from the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection, New York, sold at Christie’s New York, 15 September 2016, lot 925 and 928; another was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2019, lot 1829; and one previously in the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 24 September 2020, lot 815 (fig. 3).
Pink-enamelled wares from Yongzheng period are generally small vessels, combined with exceptionally fine porcelain body to emphasize the quality of the enamel. Pink-enamelled bowls with deep, rounded sides in the size of present lot are extremely rare, as most similar examples are slightly smaller, around 9.5 cm diameter. These examples include one in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, which was exhibited in The Special Exhibition of Qing Monochromes, Taipei, 1981, Catalogue, p. 49, no. 12 (fig. 2). A further Yongzheng bowl covered in rich ruby enamel on the exterior is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by S. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989 ed., p. 252, no. 255.
Most other examples of this type of tea bowls are decorated with anhua dragons, see two formerly from the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection, New York, sold at Christie’s New York, 15 September 2016, lot 925 and 928; another was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2019, lot 1829; and one previously in the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 24 September 2020, lot 815 (fig. 3).