A fine and large blue and white 'dragon' bowl, Mark and period of Zhengde | 明正德　青花穿蓮龍紋大盌　《正德年製》 款

Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1937.

Collection of R.F.A. Riesco (1877-1964), coll. no. 168.

Christie's Hong Kong, 27th November 2013, lot 3117.

Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Ming Blue-and-White Porcelain, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1946, cat. no. 56.

Loan Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain 14th to 19th Centuries, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1953-54, cat. no. 127.

The Arts of the Ming Dynasty, Arts Council of Great Britain, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1957, cat. no. 137.

The Ceramic Art of China, Arts Council of Great Britain and Oriental Ceramic Society, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1971, cat. no. 167.

Ise Korekushon Sekai wo Miryoshita Chugokutoji / The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 50.

Edgar E. Bluett, The Riesco Collection of Old Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1951, p. 13.

Riesco Collection of Chinese Ceramics Handlist, Croydon, 1987, p. 11, no. 94.

Christian Boehm, 'A Tea Master's Vision: Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection', Arts of Asia, July-August 2018, fig. 25.

The dragon and scrolling lotus motif, a favoured design of the Zhengde Emperor, adorned a variety of porcelain wares during his reign, including dishes, stem bowls, and spittoons, though it was seldom seen on bowls. This design's rarity on bowls highlights the uniqueness of the present lot and a select few others. Known similar examples include four bowls with almost identical designs: two are housed in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, pls. 69 and 71; another is in the Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Minji meihin zuroku [Illustrated catalogue of important Ming porcelains], vol. II, Tokyo, 1977, pl. 91; and a smaller bowl from the Su Lin An Collection was sold at these rooms, 23 October 2005, lot 204. Additionally, a bowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing, displays the same exterior and interior medallion design, but with a plain cavetto and the reign mark in Phags-pa script, illustrated in the op. cit, Hong Kong, pl. 70. Compare also with a similar example with Phags-pa mark in the Leshantang collection, sold in these rooms, 9 April 2024, lot 106.  

Other variations of this design include a bowl with deeper sides and a smaller size found in the Zhengde stratum at Zhushan, Jingdezhen, and exhibited in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, as part of the Imperial Porcelain: Recent Discoveries of Jingdezhen Ware exhibition in 1995, cat. no. 172. Compare three more bowls with deeper and straighter sides: one in the Beijing Palace Museum shown in the op. cit, Hong Kong, pl. 68; another in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming dynasty imperial ceramics], Shanghai, 2007, no. 3-77; and the last in the Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Blue-and-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book IV, Hong Kong, 1963, pl. 7.

This design echoes the motifs found on Xuande prototypes, as seen in Minji meihin zuroku [Illustrated catalogue of important Ming porcelains], vol. I, Tokyo, 1977, pl. 67, underscoring the continuity and evolution of imperial porcelain aesthetics during the Ming dynasty.

來源

Bluett & Sons，倫敦，1937年

里埃斯科（1877-1964年）收藏，收藏編號168

香港佳士得2013年11月27日，編號3117

繭山龍泉堂，東京

展覽

《Ming Blue-and-White Porcelain》，東方陶瓷學會，倫敦，1946年，編號56

《Loan Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain 14th to 19th Centuries》，東方陶瓷學會，倫敦，1953至54年，編號127

《The Arts of the Ming Dynasty》，大不列顛藝術委員會，東方陶瓷學會，倫敦，1957年，編號137

《The Ceramic Art of China》，大英藝術局與倫敦東方陶瓷學會，維多利亞與阿爾伯特博物館, 倫敦，1971年，編號167

《イセコレクション―世界を魅了した中国陶磁》，大阪市立東洋陶瓷美術館，大阪，2017年，編號50

出版

Edgar E. Bluett，《The Riesco Collection of Old Chinese Pottery and Porcelain》，倫敦，1951年，頁13

《Riesco Collection of Chinese Ceramics Handlist》，克羅伊登，1987年，頁11，編號94

Christian Boehm，〈A Tea Master's Vision: Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection〉，《亞洲藝術》，2018年7/8月，圖25

此件青花纏枝蓮龍紋盌實為正德朝珍罕之作。龍紋配纏枝蓮乃正德皇帝尤為鍾愛之紋飾組合，常見於盤、高足盌及唾壺等器型，然飾於盌器者則寥若晨星，足見本品之珍稀。

目前已知紋飾相近者僅四例：北京故宮博物院藏兩例，參見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系：青花釉裡紅（中）》，香港，2000年，圖版69、71；台北故宮博物院藏一例，載於《明瓷名品図録》卷二，東京，1977年，圖版91；另有蘇林庵舊藏較小尺寸一例，曾於2005年10月23日在香港蘇富比釋出，編號204。另見北京故宮藏一例，內外紋飾佈局相同，唯口沿無紋且署八思巴文款，見前書，香港，頁70；可比照者尚有樂善堂藏八思巴文款一例，於2024年4月9日售於香港蘇富比，編號106。

此式紋樣尚可比較數例變體：景德鎮珠山正德地層出土一例，器腹較深且尺寸略小，曾展出於大阪市立東洋陶瓷美術館1995年「景德鎮出土明官窯瓷器展」，展品編號172。另有三例深腹直壁式：北京故宮博物院藏一例，見前書，香港，頁68；上海博物館藏一例，見《明代官窯瓷器》，上海，2007年，編號3-77；及台北故宮博物院藏一例，《明代青花瓷器》，冊四，香港，1963年，圖版7。

此紋飾承襲宣德御瓷，可參考《明瓷名器圖錄》，卷1，東京，1977年，圖版67，彰顯明代御瓷美學之承續流變。