A blue and white ‘Dragon and Tiger’ jar, Shunzhi period, circa 1650-1660

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'Dragon and Tiger' jar, Blue-and-White, circa 1650-1660, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, Shunzhi period

A blue and white ‘Dragon and Tiger’ jar, Shunzhi period, circa 1650-1660. Estimate $7,000 – $9,000. Price Realized $11,250. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The jar is of compressed ovoid form with short neck and is decorated on one side with an animated tiger crouching on a flat rock. The reverse is decorated with a bold five-clawed dragon pursuing a flaming pearl, amidst vaporous clouds and waves The jar is mounted with a pair of metal bail handles. 7 ¼ in. (18.2 cm.) high, wood cover – Lot 3551

Provenance: Spink & Son, Ltd., London, 1984.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: The combination of the long-tailed tiger and the scaly dragon emerging from clouds appears to have been a popular theme on a variety of porcelain shapes produced during the Transitional period. For an ovoid jar and cover with a dragon and similar tiger to the present example, see S. Marchant & Son, Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White – Wan Li to K’ang Hsi, 1980, no. 50. The two animals also appear, together with the kylin and phoenix, on a vase in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, illustrated by Michael Butler, Julia B. Curtis and Stephen Little in Shunzhi Porcelain: Treasures from an Unknown Reign, 1644-1661, Alexandria, VA, 2002, p. 99, no.7. Also see lot 3546 in this catalogue for a wucai beaker vase decorated with this theme and a discussion of its Daoist undertones.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

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A blue and white deep dish, Early Kangxi period, circa 1665

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Blue-and-White, circa 1665, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, deep dish, early Kangxi period

A blue and white deep dish, Early Kangxi period, circa 1665. Estimate $8,000 – $10,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The well-potted dish is decorated in the interior with a scene of two ducks in a lotus pond with mountains in the distance. The base bears an apocryphal Chenghua mark encircled by the unglazed channeled foot. 11 in. (28 cm.) diam. Lot 3583 – Price Realized $15,000

Provenance: Joseph M. Morpurgo, Amsterdam, 1984.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: The unglazed channeled foot on the present lot, as well as on lots 3580, 3581, 3589, and 3591 in this catalogue, appears to have been used by the potters at Jingdezhen for a short period of time around 1670, and disappears in the second half of the Kangxi period.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

A blue and white brush pot, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

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Blue-and-White, brush pot, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, Kangxi period

A blue and white brush pot, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Estimate $8,000 – $12,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The heavily potted, waisted brushpot is decorated with a continuous river landscape with jutting mountain formations and with a lone fisherman in a boat. The base is inscribed with an apocryphal Chenghua mark. 5 ¼ in. (13.3 cm) high – Lot 3582 – Price Realized $8,750

Provenance: Bluett & Sons, Ltd., London, 1983.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

A blue and white conical cup, Chongzhen period, circa 1640

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Blue-and-White, Chongzhen period, circa 1640, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, conical cup, Zhang Qian

A blue and white conical cup, Chongzhen period, circa 1640. Estimate $8,000 – $12,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The cup is of rounded, conical form and is decorated on the exterior with a scene the Han statesman Zhang Qian reclining in a log raft in a moonlit river. The mouth rim and the pointed base of the cup are unglazed. 4 ¼ in. (10.8 cm.) diam. Lot 3529

Provenance: Ambassador R. Meyer.
V. Ashenbach.
Lindberg Collection.
S. Marchant & Son, London.
Spink & Son, Ltd., London, 1984.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Literature: S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White-Wanli to K’ang Hsi, London, 1980, no. 51.

Exhibited: S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., London, Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White-Wanli to K’ang Hsi, 13-25 July 1980.

Notes: Zhang Qian was a Han dynasty imperial envoy and traveler. He is more usually seen depicted on rhinoceros horn ‘log-raft’ cups and carvings of Kangxi date, such as the example sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2012, lot 4162. The rhinoceros horn cups are thought to have been inspired by earlier silver prototypes such as the one in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, dated to the 14th century and another formerly in the collection of Sir Percival David and now in the Cleveland Museum of Art, dated to the Ming dynasty, probably 16th century. Both of these are illustrated by J. Chapman in The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China, London, 1999, p. 263, nos. 382 and 283, respectively. It is rare to find this subject as decoration on porcelain.

A rare small rolwagen decorated with this subject, from the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated by Sir Michael Butler and Wang Qingzheng in Seventeenth Century Jingdezhen Porcelain from the Shanghai Museum and the Butler Collection: Beauty’s Enchantment, London, 2006,p. 141, no. 37, where it is noted that “Zhang Qian from the Western Han dynasty was famous for going to the Western region and promoting cultural and economic exchanges between the East and the West. Legend says that he had been to the headstream of the Yellow River, in order to regulate the water and to avoid future flooding”. By accident he found himself floating along the Milky Way (River of Heaven). From there he caught sight of the Weaving Main and the Cowherd, who were forced to be separated by the Milky Way and can only cross once a year on the 7th day of the 7th month, when a bridge is formed by magpies.

Another example decorated with this subject, a rare ovoid jar from the Transitional period, was sold at Christie’s New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1682.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

An unusual wucai beaker vase, Shunzhi period (1644-1661)

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beaker vase, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, peacock, Shunzhi period, wucai

An unusual wucai beaker vase, Shunzhi period (1644-1661). Estimate $8,000 – $12,000. Price Realized $35,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The vase is decorated on the exterior in underglaze blue and shades of iron-red, green and aubergine glazes with a scene of a peacock perched on a rock beneath a prunus tree next to a flowering peony branch as another peacock flies above amidst smaller birds. 16 ½ in. (41.9 cm.) high – Lot 3538

Provenance: J. Reuben Antiques, London, 1987.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: Peacocks have long been admired for their great beauty and in many cultures legends have grown up concerning the origin of peacocks and their symbolism. In China, as early as the Han dynasty peacocks are found in literature, such as the well-known yuefu called ‘A Pair of Peacocks Fly Southeast’, which tells of the unwavering devotion between a couple torn apart by their families. By the Tang dynasty peacocks were well known in China, and indeed some districts paid tribute in peacocks, their feathers being used both for imperial decoration, and for the designation of official rank. Later, in the Ming dynasty, the peacock became established as the insignia of civil officials of the third rank. However, as early as the Tang dynasty, peacock feathers were apparently bestowed on both civil and military officials as marks of imperial favor, rewarding faithful service.

According to legend, the founder of the Tang dynasty was associated with peacocks. The story tells of the beautiful and talented daughter of a military commander, Dou Yi. The daughter was fond of painting and embroidering peacocks on screens, and in AD 582 it was decided that her future husband should be chosen by seeing which archer could shoot the eyes from one of the peacocks on her screen with two successive shots. The successful candidate was eventually the man who was to rule China as Tang Gaozu (AD 618-26), and so the Commander’s daughter became an empress.

By the Tang dynasty there are clearly recognizable depictions of peacocks in both religious and secular Chinese art. Peacock feathers were also sometimes used to sprinkle water on altars, and are associated with a number of Buddhist deities. The peacock is particularly associated with the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin), who enters the Chinese Buddhist pantheon in male form but comes to be represented in female form, especially in relation to the role of Goddess of Mercy. One of the stories relating to the Chinese Guanyin in female form tells of Guanyin summoning a large bird with dull plumage, sweeping her hands across her own face and then over the feathers of the bird. The bird was suffused with brilliant lights and colours, to the extent that other creatures had to look away. When they looked back they saw that each of the bird’s 100 tail feathers contained an eye. Guanyin explained this by saying that, as she was unable to be omnipresent in watching over them, the eyes in the peacock’s tail would keep watch for her and remind them of her constant care.

Peacocks had significant associations with several religions, and were prized by royal houses all over Asia, not only for their symbolic importance but for their extraordinary beauty.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

A large blue and white dish, Early Kangxi period, circa 1670

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Blue-and-White, circa 1670, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, early Kangxi period

A large blue and white dish, Early Kangxi period, circa 1670. Estimate $8,000 – $12,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The large dish, with narrow everted rim, is decorated in the center with a scene of a warrior standing beneath a willow tree and addressing an approaching figure on horseback with groom, with three fruiting sprays on the rim. The exterior with three similar sprays and a fourth on the base.  14 ½ in. (36.8 cm.) diam. Lot 3573 – Price Realized $11,250

Provenance: Acquired in London in the 1980s.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Literature: Julia B. Curtis, ‘Transition ware Made Plain: A Wreck from the South China Sea’, Oriental Art, Vol. XXXI, No. 2, Summer, 1985, p. 169, fig. 15b.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

A small blue and white beaker vase, 17th century

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17th Century, beaker vase, Blue-and-White, Collection of Julia and John Curtis

A small blue and white beaker vase, 17th century. Estimate $10,000 – $15,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

Of elongated, cylindrical form flaring towards the neck, the vase is painted on one side with a leaf-shaped panel containing a four-clawed dragon emerging from waves in pursuit of a flaming pearl. The reverse is decorated with a stylized rock formation and a berry branch. 8 in. (20.3 cm.) high – Lot 3558. Price Realized $8,125

Provenance: Jan van Beers, London, 1984.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: The dragon had long been a favored motif in Chinese art, and it continued to be used as a decorative motif on Transitional wares. A symbol of imperial power, the dragon appeared on Chinese porcelains as early as the 14th century. Its meaning shifted slightly through China’s different political periods. In reference to a Ming dynasty leys jar in the Lenora and Walter F. Brown Collection decorated with a five-clawed dragon, illustrated by Julia B. Curtis in “Tales told in Porcelain: Jingdezhen Blue-and-White Wares at the San Antonio Museum of Art,” Orientations, April 2005 (p. 48, illustrated p. 49, fig. 8), Dr. Curtis notes, “During the Han dynasty, the dragon was the symbol of the east and thus associated with sunrise and spring rain which bring fertility and fecundity. The dragon was always related to water… Thus the dragon came to signify the power of creation, and to be embraced as the giver of life and the life force, and as such, to symbolize the person, power and benevolence of the emperor. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, use of the five-clawed dragon as an imperial decorative device was strictly enforced by sumptuary laws”.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

A blue and white stem cup, Shunzhi period, circa 1650-1660

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'The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup', Blue-and-White, circa 1650-1660, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, Shunzhi period, Stem cup, Yinzhong baxian

A blue and white stem cup, Shunzhi period, circa 1650-1660. Estimate $10,000 – $15,000. Price Realized $22,500. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The bell-shaped cup is supported on a tall, hollow and spreading foot and is decorated on the exterior with a scene from the poem of ‘The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup’, with Li Jin accompanied by two attendants and a peddler pushing a wine cart, all within a rocky landscape set between a ‘cracked-ice’ band at the rim and thin bamboo branches on the foot. The foot rim is unglazed. 5 in. (12.7 cm.) high – Lot 3557

Provenance: Collection of Max Robertson, London.
Heirloom & Howard, Ltd., London, 1984.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: The poem ‘Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup’ (Yinzhong baxian) was written by the famous Tang dynasty poet Du Fu (AD 712-770) who, like many Tang dynasty men of letters, derived considerable enjoyment, and, apparently, inspiration, from drinking wine. In his poem he chose to celebrate the drinking habits of other literary men of his time, including that of his great friend Li Bai (AD 701-762). The poem provided the subject for paintings at least as early as the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), and appeared as decoration on porcelain in the Qing dynasty Shunzhi reign (1644-1661), although it was particularly popular in the Kangxi reign (1662-1722) (see lots 3587, 3588).

On this cup one of the eight, Li Jin, Prince of Ruyang, is depicted glancing wistfully backwards towards a wine cart. As Du Fu described him:
‘Ruyang can drink three gallons [of wine] by daybreak,
But when a wine cart passes his mouth still waters,
He would prefer to take up an appointment in Jiuquan [Wine spring].’

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

A large blue and white ‘Immortals’ dish, Shunzhi period, circa 1650

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'Immortals' dish, Blue-and-White, circa 1650, Eight Daoist Immortals, four-character mark yu tang jia qi ('beautiful vessel for the Jade Hall'), Shoulao, Shunzhi period

A large blue and white ‘Immortals’ dish, Shunzhi period, circa 1650. Estimate $10,000 – $15,000. Price Realized $27,500. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The dish is decorated in the interior with a scene of the Eight Daoist Immortals gathering on a riverbank as the Star God Shoulao sits beneath a pine tree on the opposite bank with a recumbent deer. The base bears a four-character mark yu tang jia qi (‘beautiful vessel for the Jade Hall’), within a double circle. 14 ¼ in. (36 cm.) diam. Lot 3560

Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 19 November 1985, lot 4.
S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., London, 1985.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: Two large dishes of similar proportions, also decorated with the ‘Eight Daoist Immortals’, were illustrated by Michael Butler, Julia B. Curtis and Stephen Little in Shunzhi Porcelain: Treasures from an Unknown Reign, 1644-1661,Alexandria, VA, 2002. The first, from the Butler Family Collection, decorated in the wucai palette (p. 224, no. 75), and the second, from the Collection of Caromy Hoare, decorated in underglaze blue (p. 225, no. 76). Both examples bear the same mark inscribed on this lot, which is noted by Sir Michael Butler to be a commendation or ‘omen’ mark that was popular in the Shunzhi period. The theme can also be found on two other pieces from the Curtis Collection, a large bowl (lot 3559), and a small vase (lot 3564).

Another blue and white example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated by Chen Runmin in Selected Chinese Ceramics from the Palace Museum (Volume 1): Blue and White Ceramics in Shunzhi and Kangxi Periods (Qing Shunzhi Kangxi chao qing hua ci), Beijing, 2005, pp. 38-39, no. 17, and also bears the same commendation mark. Another was sold at Christie’s London, 12 May 2009, lot 160.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza

An underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated powder-blue-ground dish, Kangxi period (1662-1722)

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17th Century, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, Kangxi period, Lady at a Window, underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated powder-blue-ground, Zhang Zhen

An underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated powder-blue-ground dish, Kangxi period (1662-1722). Estimate $10,000 – $15,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The shallow dish is decorated on the interior with an elegant lady wearing a long robe gazing at the orchid she holds and leaning on a table on which rests a small censer and a ‘cracked-ice’ vase, all set against a powder-blue ground. The reverse is decorated with two branches bearing red berries or blossoms, and the base is inscribed with a small tripod ding within a double circle. 10 3/8 in. (26.4 cm.) high – Lot 3585 – Price Realized $45,000

Provenance: S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., London, 1986.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: A nearly identical dish is in the Rijksmusuem, Amsterdam, and is illustrated by Christiaan J.A. Jörg in Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: The Ming and Qing Dynasties, London, 1997, p. 127, no. 130, where the author notes that the orchid is the symbol of friendship, love and beauty.

The depiction of a single, elegant lady appears to have become a popular subject in all mediums in the Kangxi period, whether depicting a specific individual or a general ‘beauty’. For a blue and white saucer dish bearing a Kangxi mark and painted with a large central image of Chang-E, see S. Marchant & Son, Exhibition of Seventeenth-Century Blue and White and Copper-Red and their Predecessors, London, 1997, p. 59, no. 48. Scroll paintings can also be found, possibly inspired by the famous Twelve Beauties at Leisure Painted for Prince Yinzhen. See an example by Zhang Zhen, 17th century, depicting a lady standing by a window holding a fan, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 6 July 2003, lot 425.(fig. 1)

Fig. 1: Lady at a Window By Zhang Zhen, 17th century. Hanging scroll, ink and color with gold on silk. Signed: Guangling Zhang Zhen, with two seals of the artist, 57 x 25 in. (144.5 x 63.5 cm.). Sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 6 July 2003, lot 425.

CHRISTIE’S. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015,New York, Rockefeller Plaza