A fine blue and white 'lianzi' bowl, Mark and period of Xuande | 明宣德 青花蓮子盌 《大明宣德年製》款

Collection of Wu Lai-hsi (d. c. 1949/50), until 1937.

Sotheby's London, 26th May 1937, lot 12 (£12).

Collection of H.R.N. Norton (d. 1961/62), from 1937 (£12).

Sotheby's London, 26th March 1963, lot 51 (£900).

Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1963 (£900).

Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928-69), from 1963 (£900).

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5th April 2016, lot 23.

吳賚熙（約1949-50年卒）收藏，自1937年

倫敦蘇富比1937年5月26日，編號12（£12）

諾頓（1961-62年卒）收藏，自1937年（£12）

倫敦蘇富比1963年3月26日，編號51（£900）

Bluett & Sons Ltd，倫敦 ，1963年（£900）

羅傑琵金頓（1928-69年）收藏，自1963年（£900）

香港蘇富比2016年4月5日，編號23

The formal non-representational patterns on this bowl would seem to be inspired by Middle Eastern designs, although no clear prototype has so far been identified. A bowl of similar form filled with figs has been given pride of place next to a Madonna and Child in an Italian painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., attributed to Francesco Benaglio (1432 - c.1492) and believed to date from the 1460s; see A.I. Spriggs, 'Oriental Porcelain in Western Paintings', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 36, 1964-6, pl. 57.

The present piece has the shape of a lotus bud (lianzi) and such lianzi or 'lotus' bowls have been popular not only at the Ming court during both the Yongle (1403-24) and Xuande (1426-35) periods, but were also favoured in the Near East and elsewhere; see for example three bowls of related form preserved in the Ardabil Shrine, Iran, in John Alexander Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, D.C., 1956, pl. 47, nos 29.324-326.

Two 'lotus' bowls from the Yongle period, one with similar design to the current lot, but with a stylised wave border instead of the key-fret around the foot, are published in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, nos 3: 29-30, where the author mentions that “…the bowl depicted [in the European painting] is the Xuande version or an Islamic copy of the Chinese bowl. The appearance of this bowl in such a painting is an indication of the high regard in which Europeans held Chinese porcelain in the fifteenth century”.

A very similar piece in the Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the exhibition Mingdai Xuande guanyao jinghua tezhan tulu/Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 157; a second example in the same museum in the exhibition Ming Xuande ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of Ming Xuande porcelain], Palace Museum, Taipei, 1980, cat. no. 43; a similar bowl in the Beijing Art Museum is published in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol. 12, pl. 66, also illustrated in Wanshousi Beijing Yishu Bowuguan/Beijing Art Museum, Tianjin, 2010, p. 72. A Xuande example of this design is also illustrated in A.D. Brankston, Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen, Beijing, 1938, pl. 13d, where the underside is compared to that of an unmarked Yongle example, pls. 7 c and d.

A Yongle version with a pointed base and a wave border at the foot in the Shanghai Museum is published in Lu Minghua, Shanghai Bowuguan zangpin yanjiu daxi/Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections: A Series of Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 5-18, together with a Kangxi copy of a Xuande-marked example, pl. 5-17; and a copy of Kangxi mark and period in the same museum is published in Zhongguo taoci quanji, op.cit., vol. 14, pl. 43.

A very similar bowl of Xuande mark and period, from the collections of R.H.R. Palmer (1898-1970), Toguri Tōru and the Toguri Museum of Art, Tokyo, once with John Sparks Ltd, and Eskenazi Ltd., London, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1648, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 17th January 1989, lot 571, in our London rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 27, and recently in these rooms, 8th April 2013, lot 22.

Compare also a similar Xuande bowl from the collection of Major Lindsay F. Hay, sold in our London rooms, 16th June 1939, lot 103, and again from the Lionel Edwards collection, 8th February 1945, lot 85; and another from the George Eumorfopoulos collection sold in our London rooms, 29th May 1940, lot 222.

迄今雖無明確證據顯示，但此盌上所繪之紋飾應受中亞風格啟發而生。華盛頓國家藝廊藏一幅傳為意大利畫家 Francesco Benaglio（1432-約1492年）於1460年間所繪《聖母與聖嬰》像，畫中有一盌，供於聖母與聖嬰旁，盌滿盛無花果，與本器相似，見 A.I. Spriggs， 〈Oriental Porcelain in Western Paintings〉，《東方陶瓷學會彙刊》，卷36，1964-6年，圖版57。

此器形如蓮子而得名，不但盛行於明廷永樂、宣德年間，更為近東及其他地區人們所青睞。伊朗阿達比爾聖殿藏三類似例，錄於 John Alexander Pope，《Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine》，華盛頓，1956年，圖版47,，編號nos 29.324-326。

大英博物館藏兩件永樂蓮子盌，其一與本器相似，惟足圈飾海浪紋而非如本器上之回紋，錄於《Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London》，2001年，編號 3: 29-30，筆者提到：「…所描繪之盌〈歐洲油畫中〉是宣德或伊斯蘭風格的中國盌。將此盌繪入畫中，顯示了中國瓷器在十五世紀歐洲人的眼中被視為珍寶。」

台北故宮博物院一例與本器甚為相似，曾展出並載於《明代宣德官窰菁華特展圖錄》，故宮博物院，台北，1998年，編號157；同院另藏一例曾展於《明宣德瓷器特展》，故宮博物院，台北，1980年，編號43。北京藝術博物館藏一相似例，錄於《中國陶瓷全集》，上海，1999-2000年，卷12，圖版66；同錄於《萬壽寺北京藝術博物館》，天津，2010年，頁72。一紋飾相同的宣德例，錄於 A.D. Brankston，《Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen》，北京，1938年，編號13d，圖下註一沒落款永樂例，見圖版7c及d。

上海博物館藏一永樂例，其器底稍小，足圈繪海浪紋，錄陸明華，《上海博物館藏品研究大系：明代官窰瓷器》，上海，2007年，圖版5-18；同書另有康熙帶宣德偽款例，見圖版5-17。同館藏一件康熙朝，並帶年款例，見《中國陶瓷全集》，上海，1999-2000年，卷14，圖版43。

R.H.R. Palmer 藏一帶宣德款例與本器極為相似，曾為東京戶栗美術館、John Sparks Ltd 及艾斯肯納齊收藏，錄於康蕊君，《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，倫敦， 1994-2010年，卷四，圖版1648，曾售香港佳士得1989年1月17日，編號571；再售於倫敦蘇富比2004年6月9日，編號27；最近售香港蘇富比2013年4月8日，編號22。

可作比較的宣德例原為 Lindsay F. Hay 將軍舊藏，後售倫敦蘇富比1939年6月16日，編號103；再次售 Lionel Edwards 專拍1945年2月8日，編號85。另一例 George Eumorfopoulos 舊藏，售倫敦蘇富比1940年5月29日，編號222。