A rare pair of copper-red decorated 'sanduo' bowls, Marks and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正 釉裏紅三多盌一對 《大清雍正年製》款

The Meiyintang Collection.

玫茵堂收藏

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994-2010, pl. 736.

康蕊君，《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，卷二，倫敦，1994-2010年，圖版736

Elegantly decorated in copper red with the three fruits of abundance - a pomegranate, a peach and a persimmon - the present pair of bowls epitomises the height of Qing porcelain production at Jingdezhen, when craftsmen strove to design innovative wares as well as recreate historical masterpieces that acted as reminders of China’s glorious past. It represents the Qing emperors’ eagerness to revive the celebrated porcelain tradition as a means to legitimise their right to rule.

The minimalistic design of the red fruits is indebted to the early Ming dynasty creation. Xuande prototypes were excavated from the waste heaps of the Ming imperial kilns in Zhushan, Jingdezhen; see a fragmentary Xuande-marked stemcup, included in Imperial Porcelain: Recent Discoveries of Jingdezhen Ware, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1995, cat. no. 43, together with an unmarked example, cat. no. 44.