A FINE AND RARE CORAL-GROUND FAMILLE-VERTE 'PEONY' BOWL YUZHI MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG

the deep rounded sides supported on a short foot rising to a slightly flared rim, the exterior decorated in a famille-verte palette with three large peony blooms, one with green and pale aubergine petals, the other two with yellow and blue petals, interspersed with three smaller blooms picked out in blue, yellow and coral-red, all borne on meandering leafy stems issuing floral buds on a rich coral-red ground, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a four-character yuzhi reign mark within a double-square

A private Japanese collection, by repute.

The bowl is overall in good condition, with just insignificant and expected firing imperfections including a small area of staining to the unenamelled section of the rim and minute pinholes.
"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."

From the Kangxi period, dark-coloured grounds adorned with vibrantly coloured floral designs were favoured for their dramatic demonstration of the newly developed falangcai enamels at the Palace Workshops in Beijing. The form and colours of this bowl are typical of the porcelain produced in the early Yongzheng period at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen and continue in the style pioneered by craftsmen of the Kangxi period in imitation of those produced at Beijing. Such bowls were made for the use of the Yongzheng Emperor, as indicated by the Yongzheng yu zhi mark.

Bowls of this form and decoration are rare; see two closely related examples, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition Porcelain with Painted Enamels of Qing Yongzheng period (1723-1735), 2013, cat. no. 020. The colour scheme and design of this piece is related to Yongzheng yu zhi marked bowls of shallower form, together with two of shallower form and related design and colour scheme, cat. nos. 18 and 19. Two additional shallow bowls, in the Chang Foundation, are published in Selected Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 142. Compare also a slightly larger bowl with straight sides, but with a Yongzheng nian zhi mark, from the collection of Sir Alfred Beit, sold in our London rooms, 6th November 2013, lot 75.

The form of this bowl, with its slightly flared rim, is more often found decorated with a myriad of flowering blooms and leaves on a coral ground; see one illustrated in Hugh Moss, By Imperial Command. An Introduction to Ch’ing Imperial Painted Enamels, Hong Kong, 1976, pl. 5, where he attributes it to the Jingdezhen imperial kilns between 1722 and 1728; and another sold in these rooms, 8th April 2010, lot 1803.

Reign marks with the wording yu zhi [made for the imperial use of…] following the reign name, rather than nian zhi [made in the years of…] are rare and suggest a closer relationship to the imperial court. Wares enamelled in the imperial workshops in the Forbidden City of Beijing rather than by the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi bear such yu zhi marks, but in overglaze blue or pink enamel, since the plain white porcelains came from Jingdezhen fully glazed and fired. The significance of the underglaze-blue yu zhi mark, which would have been added at Jingdezhen, has been much discussed, particularly since identical bowls are also known with underglaze-blue nian zhi marks. It has been suggested that such bowls were enamelled in the palace at Beijing, with only the mark inscribed at Jingdezhen before firing. However, it is likely that they were decorated in Jingdezhen as the style of enamelling differs from that decorated with blue and pink enamels. Hugh Moss, op. cit., p. 82, suggests that such bowls that heavily relied on the traditional famille-verte palette were probably produced in Jingdezhen following porcelains painted in the Palace Workshops in Beijing. Until the craftsmen in Beijing became acquainted with the developments in famille-rose of the Palace Workshops they continued to work in the dominant style of the Kangxi period.