A very rare Imperial doucai 'bajixiang' bowl

Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period

Footnotes

清雍正 鬥彩蓮托八吉祥紋碗 青花「大清雍正年製」楷書款

Provenance:
A distinguished Asian private collection

來源：
重要亞洲私人收藏

The design on the present bowl is directly derived from Imperial Chenghua-period porcelain, as can be seen on a blue and white bowl, missing its overglaze enamel decoration, Chenghua mark and period, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ch'eng-Hua Porcelain Ware, Taipei, 2003, p.145, no.131. This design inspired later Ming dynasty wares, as can be seen on a similarly decorated bowl, Wanli mark and period, illustrated in The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Shanghai, 2007, p.205, no.187.

This bowl still preserves some of the features of the Kangxi wares including the form with a deeply potted shape and a wide mouth, as well as a relatively more opaque doucai palette, suggesting an early date in the Yongzheng reign. However, whilst probably near in date to the Kangxi period, the present lot still distinguishes itself in its pleasing elegance and refined delicacy of the potting and enamelling. Compare the present bowl to the shape and the colour scheme of a doucai bowl decorated with dragon medallions, Kangxi mark and period, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in ibid., p.226, no.207.

Compare also a related example of a doucai 'bajixiang' stem bowl, Yongzheng mark and period, which was sold in these Rooms, 29 November 2016, lot 20. See another doucai stem bowl also decorated with the Eight Buddhist Emblems, which was made under Imperial command in the tenth year of the Yongzheng reign (1733) as a gift to Mongolian nobles, in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo lidai Jingdezhen ciqi: Qing juan, Beijing, 1998, p.120. Therefore, it is possible that the present bowl was specially commissioned for the emperor's personal use or as an Imperial gift.

碗敞口，弧腹，圈足。外壁以釉下青花和釉上紅、綠、黃、紫彩描繪八種吉祥物包括法輪、寶螺、寶傘、寶蓋、蓮花、雙魚、寶瓶和盤長，近足處繪仰蓮瓣紋。碗心以鬥彩飾靈芝、湖石、翠竹。碗底書青花雙圈兩行「大清雍正年製」楷書款。

此式蓮托八吉祥紋碗創燒明成化年間，見台北國立故宮博物院藏一件明成化青花蓮托八吉祥紋碗（缺釉上彩），著錄於《成化瓷器特展圖錄》，台北，2003年，頁145，編號131；至晚明萬曆時期亦有燒造，但數量極少，見北京故宮博物院藏一件明萬曆鬥彩蓮托八寶紋碗，《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：五彩·鬥彩》，香港，2007年，頁205，編號187。

此碗胎質細膩，釉彩明麗，其墩形形制及相對濃艷的釉上彩似乎更接近康熙時期類似鬥彩碗的風格，如北京故宮博物院藏一件清康熙鬥彩團龍紋碗，著錄於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：五彩·鬥彩》，香港，2007年，頁205，編號207。

參看香港邦瀚斯曾售出一件清雍正鬥彩蓮托八吉祥紋高足碗，2016年11月29日，拍品編號20；另見南京博物館藏類似一例高足碗，著錄於《中國歷代景德鎮瓷器：清卷》，北京，1998年，頁120，據記載該類高足碗於雍正十年二月奉命燒造，專為賞賜蒙古王公之用，因此此碗亦或為清宮對蒙藏貴族的賞賜之物。