A FAMILLE-ROSE 'LANDSCAPE' BOWL QIANLONG SEAL MARK AND PERIOD

with deep rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot to an everted rim, painted around the exterior with a continuous landscape depicting a large walled compound of storeyed pavilions built on a lake island surrounded by green and turquoise cliffs and arbored with lofty pines and wutong trees, with distant figures standing on the grassy banks or crossing over an arched bridge, all below wispy clouds and misty mountains in the far distance, the interior similarly painted in the centre with a cottage on a shore below willow trees among turquoise blue and green mountains, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character seal mark

Collection of Henrik V. Jacobsen, General Director of East Asiatic Company.

The rim has been lightly polished, the bowl is in otherwise good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Idealised landscapes encircling the exterior of a bowl, similar to a painting on an unrolled handscroll, are rarely found on Qianlong porcelain. Such continuous paintings commanded not only accomplished brushwork but also particular skill at composition. No other related bowl appears to have been published, although a set of ten nested bowls with straight sides and each bearing a Qianlong reign mark and of the period was offered in our Hong Kong rooms, 27^th April 1993, lot 219. Compare Jiaqing (1796-1820) mark and period bowls similarly depicting landscapes, the interior rim encircled with an iron red band of ruyi heads and roundel in the centre, such as one sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 22^nd May 1986, lot 353; and a pair sold in these rooms, 18^thJune 1985, lot 198.

 

Imperial bowls decorated with scenes of landscapes are more commonly known depicted within medallions on a coloured ground; see a pair of blue-ground bowls, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign, Taipei, 2008, pl. 13, together with a yellow version, pl. 14; and two examples, one on a yellow ground and the other on a ruby ground, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures  of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, 1999, pls 103 and 104 respectively.

 

For a vase painted with a continuous landscape scene around the body, see one from the J.T. Tai collection, sold in our Hong Kong, rooms, 7^th October 2010, lot 2130.