A fine doucai 'anbaxian' bowl Mark and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正 鬪彩暗八仙盌 《大清雍正年製》款

Collection of the Barksdale Bernard family, Petersburgh, Virginia.

Barksdale Bernard 家族收藏，彼得斯堡，維吉尼亞州

The present bowl is remarkable for its dynamic and detailed rendering of the anbaxian (Eight Secret Emblems), with flattering ribbons painted in two different colours. A closely related bowl is illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics IV, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 139, where the author suggests that bowls of this type were made in the early part of the Yongzheng reign, before the appointment of Nian Xiyao (1617-1738) as Superintendent of Customs and Director of the Jingdezhen imperial kilns in 1726, p. 67. A closely related pair of bowls from the T.Y. Chao collection was included in the exhibition Ch’ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, Hong Kong, 1973, cat. no. 89; another pair was sold twice in these rooms, 1st November 1999, lot 366 and, 10th April 2006, lot 1792; and a further pair was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 842. See also three bowls sold in these rooms, the first, 27th April 1999, lot 434; the second in 1983, 1990 and 30th October 2000, lot 164; and the third, 7th October 2019, lot 3117.

This motif is also known painted in underglaze blue, such as a Yongzheng mark and period bowl in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in Xu Huping ed., Treasures in the Royalty. The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, pl. 170.

此對盌飾暗八仙紋，添綴二色飄帶，妙趣精緻。參考一近例，圖載於《徐氏藝術館．陶瓷篇IV．清代》，香港，1995年，圖版139，作者指出，年希堯（1617-1738年）在雍正四年才出任景德鎮官窰督陶官，但此類盌燒造時間更早，頁67。

趙從衍舊藏有一對近例，展於《華光艸堂珍藏清代瓷器》，香港，1973年，編號89。另一對兩度售於蘇富比，1999年11月1日，編號366，以及2006年4月10日，編號1792。另見三盌售於蘇富比，一例售於1999年4月27日，編號434，另一例售於1983年、1990年及2000年10月30日，編號164，再一例售於2006年4月9日，編號1792。