A finely carved 'Longquan' celadon-glazed 'floral' bowl, Ming dynasty, Yongle / Xuande period | 明永樂 / 宣德 龍泉窰青釉四季花卉紋盌

Japanese Private Collection.

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日本私人收藏

Covered in an attractive, lustrous glaze, the present bowl is an exemplary example of the height of production at the Longquan kilns during the early Ming dynasty.

Towards the end of the Hongwu Emperor's reign, the Statutes of the Great Ming recorded an edict governing the production of ceramics at the kilns of Jingdezhen and Longquan. Issued in the 26th year of Hongwu's reign, corresponding to 1393, the edict set in place an imperial design system in which all ceramic designs were to be designed and approved by the court before being sent to the two kilns for production. Thus, during this period of time and especially during the proceeding Yongle and Xuande reigns, Longquan wares and blue and white Jingdezhen porcelain shared similar, if not the same, designs and decorative patterns. Similarly, the lotus scrolls and design on the present bowl, can also be found in contemporary blue and white porcelains of the Yongle and Xuande reigns.

A bowl of similar form and design, illustrated in Julian Thompson, 'Chinese Celadons, the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Chia', Arts of Asia, November-December 1993, fig. 18, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 5th November 1996, lot 634. Compare also a bowl in the Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 604.