A finely enamelled pair of doucai 'lotus' dishes, Marks and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正 鬪彩纏枝番蓮紋盤一對 《大清雍正年製》款

Christie's Hong Kong, 27th/28th April 1997, lot 746.

香港佳士得1997年4月27-28日，編號746

Impressive for the rich and complex design of lotus blooms amongst foliate scrolls, the unusual rendition of lotuses on this pair of dishes reflects the level of artistic innovation allowed by craftsmen working in the Yongzheng period. With the developments in porcelain production and the Emperor’s desire to create refined designs that were based on celebrated wares from China’s history, highly original compositions that were rooted in the past were produced. These lotuses appear to be inspired by Chenghua designs which featured bright red petals around a centre of yellow and green, as seen on a stemcup, from the Wu Lai Hsi, Carl Kempe and Meiyintang Collections, sold in these rooms, 5th October 2011, lot 28. The green leaves are reminiscent of Western acanthus leaves and demonstrate the level of cultural exchange during the Qing dynasty.

This dish diverges slightly from typical doucai wares as the lotus blooms have not been pencilled in underglaze blue. Instead, they are outlined in razor-sharp iron red, creating an eye-catching contrast between them and the softer underglaze-blue lines. A closely related dish in the Tokyo National Museum was included in the Museum’s exhibition Chinese Arts of the Ming and Ch’ing Periods, 1963, Tokyo, cat. no. 413; one in the Chang Foundation, Taipei, is illustrated in James Spencer, Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 135; another from the collection of W.G. Gulland, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is published in John Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, pl. 210; and a fourth dish is illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. 1, pl. 1067.

See a single similar dish included in the Exhibition of Ch’ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, Hong Kong, 1973, cat. no. 88; another from the collection of Paul and Helen Bernat, sold in these rooms, 15th November 1988, lot 16; and a pair from the collection of Stephen Junkunc III was sold at Christie’s New York, 21st November 1995, lot 258. A larger example (d. 27 cm), from the collection of William Cleverley Alexander, is included in Recent Acquisitions 2008, S. Marchant & Son, London, 2008, cat. no. 36. 

鬪彩對盤色彩明艷，番蓮卷葉紋繁複綺麗，屬雍正御窰之創新。胤禎尚古，授命瓷匠復燒前朝名瓷，再現經典。此盤紋飾，蓮瓣艷紅，嬌蕊綴明黃、鮮綠，取材成化瓷，明例可見於一成化鬪彩團蓮紋高足盃，曾為吳賚熙、卡爾肯普博士及玫茵堂遞藏，售於香港蘇富比2011年10月5日，編號28。綠彩卷葉紋相若西洋莨苕葉紋，反映清代中西文化交流之密切。

盤上番蓮無青花輪廓，異於傳統鬪彩瓷，但以纖利礬紅細線勾勒，相應釉下青花柔和線條，對比強烈奪目。東京國立博物館藏一件近類瓷盤，展出於《中国明清美術展目錄》，東京，1963年，編號413。台北鴻禧美術館藏一盤，錄於史彬士，《中國歷代陶瓷選集》，台北，1990年，圖版135。W.G. Gulland 舊藏也有一例，現存倫敦維多利亞與艾伯特博物館，載於約翰．艾爾斯，《Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum》，倫敦，1980年，圖版210。還有一盤，刊於《龍泉集芳：創業七十年記念》，東京，1976年，卷1，圖版1067。

參考一同類鬪彩盤例，錄於《華光艸堂珍藏清代瓷器》，香港，1973年，編號88。白納德伉儷收藏一盤，1988年11月15日售於香港蘇富比，編號16。史蒂芬．瓊肯三世舊藏一對盤，售於紐約佳士得1995年11月21日，編號258。另可參考尺寸較大之例（27公分），原屬 William Cleverley Alexander 收藏，收入《Recent Acquisitions 2008》，馬錢特，倫敦，2008年，編號36。