A green-ground aubergine-enamelled 'dragon' bowl, Mark and period of Kangxi | 清康熙 綠地紫彩龍紋盌 《大清康熙年製》款

Phillips London, 12th June 1991, lot 115 (part lot).

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倫敦富藝斯，1991年6月12日，編號115 (其一)

According to Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson, the Emperor dined rarely together with his family, but did so on the occasion of the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the New Year. On this occasion the ladies who dined with him were provided with precisely prescribed ceramic and lacquer utensils according to their rank. Green-glazed porcelains with purple dragons were then apparently reserved for sixth-rank guiren consorts; see Splendours of China's Forbidden City. The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong, 2004, pp. 197-202.

Two-coloured 'dragon' bowls and dishes of this type were made throughout the Qing dynasty, starting in the Kangxi reign, but Kangxi examples tend to be extremely rare. The present colour combination is also attested on Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Guangxu examples, and perhaps others, with the largest number dating from the Daoguang period.

Compare a similar Kangxi bowl, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and published in Geng Baochang, ed., Gugong Bowuyuan cang gu taoci ciliao xuancui [Selection of ancient ceramic material from the Palace Museum], vol. 2, Beijing, 2005, pl. 88; another bowl in the Shanghai Museum illustrated in Wang Qingzheng, ed., Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Shanghai, 1998, pl. 196; and two others from the collection of Helen and Peter Lin, included in the exhibition Joined Colours. Decoration and Meaning in Chinese Porcelain, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1993, cat. nos 19 and 20. Also compare a larger Kangxi bowl of less flared rim, also decorated with dragons in the same colour scheme, in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in He Li, Chinese Ceramics. A New Standard Guide, London, 1996, pl. 615; and another bowl included in Chinese Porcelain from the 15th to the 18th Century, Eskenazi Ltd, London, 2006, cat. no. 11.

據何翠媚與布朗森博士所述，清帝鮮少與后妃共進膳食，惟元宵節（農曆正月十五）為例外。在此特殊節日中，獲邀入宴之命婦依其品階使用不同之瓷器與漆器，制度嚴格、品類有別。其中，施綠釉並飾紫龍之瓷器，據信為正六品貴人所專用，參見《Splendours of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong》，2004年，頁197–202。

此類雙彩龍紋器於清代各朝皆有燒製，始見於康熙一朝，然康熙年間作品尤為稀有。綠地紫龍之配色亦可見於雍正、乾隆、嘉慶、道光及光緒等朝，而以道光時期為數最多。

可參考一例康熙年製，現藏北京故宮博物院，著錄於耿寶昌主編，《故宮博物院藏古陶瓷資料選粹》，卷二，北京，2005年，圖版88；另見上海博物館藏一例，著錄於王清靜主編，《上海博物館藏康熙瓷器圖錄》，上海，1998年，圖版196。亦可參考林海倫與林彼得伉儷舊藏之兩件相似盌，曾展於華盛頓史密森學會薩克勒美術館《Joined Colours: Decoration and Meaning in Chinese Porcelain》，1993年，編號19與20。另可參見舊金山亞洲藝術博物館藏一件康熙朝口沿略收之大盌，綠地紫龍設色一致，著錄於 He Li，《Chinese Ceramics: A New Standard Guide》，倫敦，1996年，圖版615；見另一例，參考埃斯肯納齊《Chinese Porcelain from the 15th to the 18th Century》一書，倫敦，2006年，編號11。