A rare pair of iron-red and green-enamelled 'boys' square bowls, Marks and period of Jiajing | 明嘉靖　紅地綠彩嬰戲圖方斗盃一對　《大明嘉靖年製》款

Collection of the Konoike family (Shokintei), Osaka.

Shokintei Zohin Nyusatsu Mokuroku [Auction catalogue of the Shokintei (the Konoike) Collection], Osaka Bijutsu Club, Osaka, 12th June 1940, lot 213.

Mayuyama & Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

Hirano Kotoken.

Chugokutoji Gen Ming Meihinten [Chinese Ceramics from the Yuan - Ming Dynasties], Japan Ceramic Society, Nihonbashi Takashimaya, Tokyo, 1956, cat. no. 146.

Chugoku Meito Hyaku-sen /A Loan Exhibition of One Hundred Selected Masterpieces, Takashimaya, Osaka, 1961, cat. no. 80.

Chugoku Min Shin Bijutsu Ten Mokuroku / Chinese Arts of the Ming and Ch'ing Periods, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1963, cat. no. 337 (only one illustrated).

Chugoku Toji Meihin Ten Ise Korekushon no Shiho / Masterpieces of Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition, Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Ishikawa, 2012, cat. no. 69.

Shika Meisai: Ise Korekushon no Meito / Imperial Colors: Peerless Chinese Porcelains from the Ise Collection, Gotoh Museum, Tokyo, 2015, cat. no. 24.

Porcelaine. Chefs-d'œuvre de la Collection Ise, Musée Guimet, Paris, 2017, cat. no. 48.

Ise Korekushon Sekai wo Miryoshita Chugokutoji / The Enchanting Chinese Ceramics from the Ise Collection, Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 2017, cat. no. 62.

Mayuyama: Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 828.

Chugoku Toji. Ise Korekushon / Chinese Ceramics. The Ise Collection, Tokyo, 2012, pp. 90-91.

The playful scene adorning this pair of square bowls illustrate the artistic vitality characteristic of porcelain designs of the Jiajing period (r. 1522-1566). Painted in red and green enamels of children at play, symbolic of the Confucian ideal for the education and advancement of many sons, this decorative theme was especially prolific during this period in response to the emperor’s desire for many sons. Another meaning of this motif is suggested by Rosemary E. Scott in Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1989, p.80, where the author notes that scenes of boys at play may be linked to the Daoist theme of the old regaining their youth. As the Jiajing emperor was a devout Daoist and sought to find the elixir of immortality throughout his life, decoration influenced by Daoist iconography was prevalent at court.  

Closely related bowls are held in important private and museum collections worldwide; see one in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden, included in the Museum’s exhibition, Chinesisches Porzellan der Mingdynastie. 14. bis 17. Jahrhundert, 1987, cat. no. 27; one from the Baur Collection, published in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in The Baur Collection, vol. 1, Geneva, 1999, pl. 87; and a third bowl, from the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, included in the exhibition Chinese Porcelain. The S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 71. See also a bowl of this type illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu/ Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 11, Tokyo, 1955, pl. 107 (bottom); and two further examples sold in our London rooms, one, included in the Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Ceramics from The Collection of The Kau Chi Society of Chinese Art, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1981, cat. no. 102, sold, 9th June 1987, lot 247, and the other, 10th June 1986, lot 253.

來源

鴻池家（松均亭）收藏，大阪

《松筠亭蔵品展観目録》，大阪美術倶樂部，大阪，1940年6月12日，編號213

繭山龍泉堂，東京

平野古陶軒

展覽

《中国陶磁―元明名品展》，髙島屋，大阪，1956年，編號146

《中国名陶百選展》，髙島屋，大阪，1961年，編號80

《中国明清展目録》，東京國立博物館，東京，1963年，編號337（僅刊載一盃）

《中国陶磁名品展―イセコレクションの至宝》，石川縣立美術館，石川，2012年，編號69

《瓷華明彩―イセコレクションの名陶》，五島美術館，東京，2015年，編號24

《Porcelaine. Chefs-d'œuvre de la Collection Ise》，吉美博物館，巴黎，2017年，編號48

《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62

出版

《龍泉集芳》，卷1，繭山龍泉堂，東京，1976年，圖版828

《中国陶磁―イセコレクション》，東京，2012年，頁90至91

此對方斗碗所飾嬰戲圖生動活潑，盡顯嘉靖一朝（1522-1566年）瓷器紋飾之藝術生命力。以礬紅綠彩描繪童子嬉戲場景，既象徵儒家「多子多福、望子成龍」之理想，亦迎合嘉靖帝渴求子嗣之夙願。此類嬰戲紋或暗含道教「返老還童」之寓意，參閱羅莎莉·史考特，《大維德中國藝術基金會》，倫敦，1989年，頁80。鑒於嘉靖帝終生篤信道教、追尋長生不老之術，具道教意象之裝飾紋樣遂盛行於宮廷用器。

全球重要公私收藏中可見同類作例：德勒斯登國家藝術收藏館藏一例，展於《明代中國瓷器：十四至十七世紀》，德累斯頓，1987年，編號27；瑞士鮑氏東方藝術館藏一例，刊載於約翰·艾爾斯，《鮑氏藏中國陶瓷》，日內瓦，1999年，卷1，圖版87；香港天民樓舊藏一例，展出於香港藝術館，《天民樓藏瓷》，香港，1987年，圖版71。另可參考一例著錄於《世界陶瓷全集》，東京，1955年，卷11，圖版107下；以及兩度經倫敦蘇富比釋出之例：其一曾參展香港中文大學，《求知雅集珍藏中國古陶瓷展》，香港，1981年，編號102，後於1987年6月9日拍出，編號247；其二則於1986年6月10日成交，編號253。