A fine and rare pair of doucai and famille-rose 'sanduo' bowls, Marks and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正 鬪彩加粉彩三多撇口盌一對 《大清雍正年製》款

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 15th May 1990, lot 286.

香港蘇富比1990年5月15日，編號286

Sotheby's Hong Kong – Twenty Years, 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 248.

Sotheby's. Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 189.

《香港蘇富比二十週年》，香港，1993年，圖版248

《香港蘇富比三十週年》，香港，2003年，圖版189

The present bowls are superb examples of Yongzheng doucai porcelain in its clever manipulation of a restricted palette to create a variety of colours and textures. The doucai technique of drawing in underglaze-blue outlines and colouring in enamel washes, traditionally made use of the wucai (famille-verte) palette but later also incorporated fencai (famille-rose) enamels. The colour scheme used on this pair of bowls is particularly interesting; only one of the fruiting branches, that of the pomegranates, uses a rose-pink enamel but not in the typical fencai combination with an opaque white, but superimposed on yellow. This has created a most original tone which is otherwise very rarely seen and suggests an early date in the Yongzheng reign. Furthermore, the stippled iron red in the fruit enhances its sense of three-dimensionality while endowing it with a naturalistic texture. 

Another pair of bowls of this elegant design from the collection of Sam'l C. Davis, was sold separately in the early 1990s. One bowl was first sold in our New York rooms, 27th November 1990, lot 190 and again in these rooms, 7th October 2019, lot 3018; and the other bowl was sold in our New York rooms, 26th November 1991, lot 356, published in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 4, pt. II, London, 2010, pl. 1749, and sold in these rooms, 7th April 2011, lot 7. A further bowl was sold in these rooms, 11th April 2008, lot 2834.

The design of fruiting branches references two of the Yongzheng Emperor's passions: his reverence for antiquity and his love of auspicious symbols, both of which surrounded his residences and belongings. The present design, with sprays of fruiting finger citron, lychee and pomegranate, represents a variation of the auspicious sanduo (‘three abundances’) motif, as harbingers of endless long life, an abundance of offspring and plentiful blessings. The pomegranate bursting with seeds symbolises the wish for plentiful offspring; the lychee, with its Chinese name, lizhi, is homophonous with the phrase ‘establish a son’ (lizi) and represents abundance of offspring; and the finger citron, often referred to as 'the Buddha's hand' is an emblem of longevity, happiness and good fortune. They have been rendered in a style reminiscent of Chenghua doucai prototypes in an acknowledgement of the technique pioneered during the Ming Emperor's reign; compare a bowl decorated with medallions of fruiting branches, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Special Exhibition of Ch'eng-hua Porcelain Ware, 1465-1487, Taipei, 2003, cat. no. 151.

此盌紋飾釉下勾勒細緻，釉上填彩精準，色澤清逸秀雅。外壁所繪折枝瑞果，以粉彩填色，燒成後濃淡深淺不一，層次分明，生動逼真，屬宮廷御製上乘之作。將粉彩運用到鬪彩裝飾之中是雍正御窰廠的一大突破。內府作坊在五彩的基礎上，加入乳濁劑即「玻璃白」，研製成粉彩，配合其他著色劑使用，使紋飾充滿質感，呈現不同層次的色調，予人賞心悅目之感。藝匠不僅在對盌石榴上敷飾粉彩，更在黃色上添施胭脂粉色，罕見獨特，應屬雍正初年巧技，配以漸變礬紅，自然生動。 

Sam'l C. Davis 舊藏有相類對盌，九十年代分開出售。其一先在紐約蘇富比1990年11月27日拍出，編號190，2019年10月7日再在香港蘇富比易手，編號3018。另一盌初於1991年11月26日在紐約蘇富比拍出，編號356，收入玫茵堂典藏，錄於康蕊君，《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，卷4，倫敦，2010年，編號1749，後售於香港蘇富比2011年4月7日，編號7。另見一例，2008年4月11日售於香港蘇富比，編號2834。

對盌繪三多，分別為佛手、石榴和荔枝，寓多子、多富、長壽之意。本器繪折枝三多，枝繁葉茂，瑞果豐盈，體現了雍正皇帝祥瑞的意願。圖案繪風，有成化鬪彩餘韻，参考台北故宮藏一成化鬪彩團花果盌例，錄於《成化瓷器特展圖錄》，台北，2003年，編號151。