A large underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated dish, Early Kangxi period, circa 1670

Étiquettes

circa 1670, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, early Kangxi period, Romance of the Western Chamber, Ten Choice Selections of Song Medleys Elegantly Illustrated, underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated, Woodblock illustration, Xiuxiang Gelin Shicui

A large underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated dish, Early Kangxi period, circa 1670. Estimate $10,000 – $15,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The dish is decorated on the interior with a scene from the Romance of the Western Chamber, depicting Yingying’s servant Hongniang kneeling before Yingying’s mother and an attendant in a curtained pavilion. An inscription referring to the scene appears on the wall behind the mother. The dish is supported on an unglazed channeled foot. 13 1/8 in. (33.2 cm.) diam. Lot 3589 – Price Realized $62,500

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

Literature: Julia B. Curtis, ‘Decorative Schemes for New Markets: The Origins and Use of Narrative Themes on 17th-Century Chinese Porcelain’, International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, London, 1997, p. 23, fig. 10.

Notes: In this scene, which is known as ‘Hongniang in the Dock’, Yingying’s maid Hongniang is shown being interrogated and rebuked by Yingying’s mother regarding her daughter’s relationship with Zhang Sheng. The text behind the seated mother reflects Hongniang’s view and reads rather bluntly: ‘Why persist in stopping them? Daughters and dead fish are not items to be retained’. A differently composed scene from the Xixiang ji depicting a tense encounter between Yingying’s mother and Hongniang decorates the Yuan dynasty meiping in the Victoria and Albert Museum, but the scene on the Curtis dish was almost certainly inspired by an illustration in the 1659 woodblock printed edition of the tale. (fig.1)

Fig. 1: Woodblock illustration to Xiuxiang Gelin Shicui (Ten Choice Selections of Song Medleys Elegantly Illustrated), 1659.

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

Eight small blue and white dishes, Chongzhen period, circa 1643

Étiquettes

'The Romance of the Western Chamber', Blue-and-White, Chongjiao Bei Xixiang Ji, Chongzhen period, circa 1643, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, Li Zhuowu, The Collated Story of the Western Wing, Tianqi Period, Woodblock illustration, Wuxing, Xi Xiang Ji

Eight small blue and white dishes, Chongzhen period, circa 1643. Estimate $12,000 – $18,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

Each small dish has a foliate rim and is delicately decorated with a different narrative scene from The Romance of the Western Chamber and other literary sources. The reverse of each is decorated with a continuous river landscape and is inscribed with an apocryphal Jiajing mark on the base. 3 ½ in. (8.9 cm.) diam. Lot 3516

Provenance: The Property of Captain Michael Hatcher; Christie’s Amsterdam, 14 March 1984, lot 200 (part), lot 201 (part).
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Literature: Julia B. Curtis, “Transitionware Made Plain: A Wreck in the South China Sea,” Oriental Art, Volume XXXI, No. 2, Summer, 1985, pp. 169-170, figs. 13, 16,17, 18 a,b.
Colin Sheaf and Richard Kilburn, The Hatcher Porcelain Cargoes, The Complete Record, London, 1988, p. 66, pl. 97 (four).
Julia B. Curtis, “La porcelaine chinoise de Transition,” La porcelaine chinoise de Transition: et ses influences sur la céramique japonaise, proche-orientale et européenne, Geneva, 1993, no. 7.

Notes: This interesting group of dishes is decorated with a variety of scenes that most likely derive from popular novels, as well as one generic scene with a scholar and attendant, and one showing four immortals. Two scenes can be directly compared to woodblock illustrations from The Romance of the Western Chamber. The small dish with two ladies in a garden depicts the heroine Yinying offering incense in honor of her deceased uncle. (fig. 1)

Fig. 1: Woodblock illustration to Xi Xiang Ji (Romance of the Western Chamber). From an edition published at Wuxing in the Tianqi period (1621-1627), from Craig Clunas, “The West Chamber: A Literary Theme in Chinese Porcelain Decoration,” Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1981-82, p. 76, pl. 9.

Another direct comparison can be drawn between the small dish decorated with a lady seated on a garden rock beneath a tree and a woodblock illustration with the scene known as ‘Repudiation of the billet-doux’. (fig. 2)

Fig. 2: Woodblock illustration to Chongjiao Bei Xixiang Ji (The Collated Story of the Western Wing), commentary attributed to Li Zhuowu, 1598.

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 rare blue and white dated gu-form vase, early Kangxi period, dated 1664

Étiquettes

Blue-and-White, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, dated 1664, early Kangxi period, gu form vase, Romance of the Western Chamber, Wang Jide, Wang Shifu, Woodblock illustration, Xi Xiang Ji

A rare blue and white dated gu-form vase, early Kangxi period, dated 1664. Estimate $25,000 – $35,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The tall cylindrical vase flares toward the mouth and is decorated on the upper register in a penciled style with a scene of a lone scholar on horseback in a winter landscape, followed by an attendant carrying his books with a long inscription above. The scene is set between a border of dots at the rim and wide bands of lotus scroll and flames in the lower registers. The rim is dressed in brown and the flat base is unglazed. 15 ¾ in. (40 cm.) high – Lot 3565. Price Realized $118,750

Provenance: Anita Gray, London, 1998.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Literature: Michael Butler, Julia B. Curtis, and Stephen Little, Shunzhi Porcelain: Treasures from an Unknown Reign, 1644-1661, Alexandria, VA, 2002, pp. 64-65, figures 14-15.

Notes: The poetic inscription on this vase can be translated as:

‘My life’s greatest enterprises rely on the five carts of books I have read. I do not mind traveling ten-thousand miles of frosty road to my destination, the capital city, where the red sun rises, and where, by the Phoenix Pond, my prose will match that of Sima Ziangru´.

Qianshen Bai discusses this vase in his article ‘Inscriptions, Calligraphy, and Seals on Jingdezhen Porcelains from the Shunzhi Era’ in Michael Butler, Julia B. Curtis and Stephen Little, Shunzhi Porcelain: Treasures from an Unknown Reign, 1644-1661, Alexandria, VA, 2002, pp. 56-67, where he notes the difficulty of transferring calligraphy from a poem onto porcelain. He explains that the physical difficulty of writing on a curving surface was compounded by most porcelain painters’ lack of knowledge of literature and writing. While the poem on this vase is beautifully conceived in the overall decorative scheme of the scene, the inscription does in fact include a few mistakes. Qianshen Bai notes, “…This poem is about a scholar on his way to the capital to take the metropolitan civil service examination. If he passed, he would then take the palace examination held by the emperor. The ‘Phoenix Pond’ refers to a pond in the imperial garden. The poet’s use of the first person tells us that he was confident of his success, believing that his writing would win him a jinshi, the highest, degree and a government post. Ironically, although the poem concerns a scholar’s confidence in succeeding in the imperial examinations because of his fine writing, its transcription includes several mistakes.” (p. 66) These minor mistakes in the transfer of the calligraphy to porcelain, however, can easily be forgiven, as the porcelain painter was so clearly skilled in the painting of the beautiful, idyllic landscape scene.

This type of scene, with a solitary figure traversing a rolling landscape, was probably inspired by generic scenes published in illustrated novels such as the Romance of the Western Chamber. (fig. 1)

Fig. 1: Woodblock illustration to Xi Xiang Ji (Romance of the Western Chamber). From an edition published by Wang Jide, ed., 1614, from Wang Shifu, The Moon and the Zither: The Story of the Western Wing, Berkeley, 1991, fg. 17.

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 and unusual underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated dish, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722)

Étiquettes

Catalogue of Fang’s Ink Cake Designs, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, Fang Shi Mopu, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period, underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated, Woodblock illustration

A large and unusual underglaze-blue and copper-red-decorated dish, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722). Estimate $25,000 – $35,000 Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The dish is decorated in the interior with an overall design drawn in a penciled style with leaping carp and Buddhist emblems on a ground of undulating waves. The reverse is painted with four further Buddhist emblems above the channeled foot. 13 ¾ in. (34.9 cm.) diam. Lot 3581 – Price Realized $125,000

Provenance: Frides Lameris, Amsterdam, 1988.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Like four other large dishes in the Curtis Collection, lots 3580, 3583, 3589, 3591, this unusual dish is finished with a channeled foot, although the present dish bears a Kangxi mark. This type of foot 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.

The decoration on this dish, with a large-scale ground pattern extending across the entire surface, is very unusual. It is possible that, like narrative scenes of the period, patterns and ground designs were also inspired by printed illustrations. (fig. 1)

Fig. 1: Woodblock illustration to Fang Shi Mopu (Catalogue of Fang’s Ink Cake Designs), by Fang Yulu, active 1570-1619.

For a related dish decorated in underglaze blue and copper-red with five carp on a similar wave ground, of slightly different shape than the present example, in Umezawa Kinenkan, Tokyo, see Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 15, Tokyo, 1983, p. 148, pl. 144.

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 rare small enameled jardinière, Shunzhi period, circa 1645-1650

Étiquettes

Catalogue of Cheng’s Ink Cake Designs, Cheng Dayue, Cheng Shi Moyuan, circa 1645-1650, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, jardinière, Shunzhi period, Woodblock illustration

A rare small enameled jardinière, Shunzhi period, circa 1645-1650. Estimate $40,000 – $60,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The deep and heavily potted vessel is decorated on the exterior with a scene of three female immortals gathering in the grounds of the Moon Palace with an attendant, with a deer emerging from behind a pine tree and a crane perched beneath a wall on the opposite side. The rim is unglazed and the base bears an apocryphal Jiajing mark. 8 ½ in. (21.6 cm.) diam. Lot 3548

Provenance: S. Marchant & Son., Ltd., London, 1990.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: This jardinière, like the blue and white vase decorated with “Washing the Elephant” (lot 3569), also exhibits the link between designs on porcelain and published designs for ink cakes. A 1606 edition of the Cheng Shi Moyuan shows a female immortal with attendant observing the jade hare pounding the elixir by the Moon Palace of Chang E. (fig. 1) The depiction of the Moon Palace rising from clouds can be closely compared to that found on the present jardinière.

Fig. 1: Woodblock illustration to Cheng Shi Moyuan (Catalogue of Cheng’s Ink
Cake Designs), by Cheng Dayue (1542-c. 1616).

This jardinière is very rare; only one other of this shape and polychrome enamel palette, from the Butler Family Collection, appears to be published. The Butler Family example has been extensively published, most recently by Michael Butler and Wang Qingzheng in Seventeenth Century Jingdezhen Porcelain from the Shanghai Museum and the Butler Collection: Beauty’s Enchantment, London, 2006, p. 175, no. 53, as well as by Michael Butler, Julia B. Curtis and Stephen Little in Shunzhi Porcelain: Treasures from an Unknown Reign, 1644-1661, Alexandria, VA, 2002, p. 221, no. 75.

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 ‘Washing the elephant’ vase, early Kangxi period, circa 1670

Étiquettes

'Washing the elephant' vase, Blue-and-White, Catalogue of Fang’s Ink Cake Designs, circa 1670, Collection of Julia and John Curtis, early Kangxi period, Fang Shi Mopu, Fang Yulu, Woodblock illustration

A blue and white ‘Washing the elephant’ vase, early Kangxi period, circa 1670. Estimate $40,000 – $60,000. Photo Christie’s Image Ltd 2015

The pear-shaped vase is decorated with a finely drawn scene of an elephant being washed by four Chinese grooms, one of whom is standing on top of the elephant with a large brush, as two dignitaries and a monk in a patchwork robe look on. 10 in. (25.2 cm.) high – Lot 3569 – Price Realized $137,000

Provenance: S. Marchant & Son, Ltd., London, 1987.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: The decoration on this early Kangxi-period vase depicts a scene known as ‘Washing the Elephant’ (saoxiang , literally ‘sweeping the elephant’). A white elephant is depicted being washed by four servants – one standing on top with a broom, one holding the elephant, and two filling a large jar from a water-filled wooden tub. They are watched by a Buddhist monk and a military officer. An initial link between the white elephant and Buddhism was revealed in connection with the birth of the Buddha. According to legend his mother, Queen Maya, was childless for many years after her marriage, but one night had a very vivid dream in which she was transported by four devas (spirits) to Lake Anotatta in the Himalayas. She was then visited by a white elephant holding a white lotus in its trunk, which walked around her three times before entering her womb through her right side. Tradition has it that the Buddha took the form of a white elephant in order to be reborn for the last time on Earth. In the Buddhist pantheon, a white elephant is also associated with the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, who is often depicted riding the elephant.

The origin of this scene of washing or sweeping a white elephant is not clear. In his Record of Clouds and Mist Passing Before One’s Eyes (Yunyan guoyan lu) – a volume on art collecting in the early Yuan dynasty – Zhou Mi (c. 1232-1309) mentions paintings of Sweeping the Elephant by the Tang dynasty artists Yan Liben (c. 600-674) and his brother Yan Lide (died AD 656). The Yan Liben painting is also mentioned in the Xuanhe huapu – imperial painting catalogue of the Northern Song completed in around AD 1120, along with several others also with the theme ‘Washing the Elephant’. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a hanging scroll (accession number 1976.191) of this subject by Chen Zi (1632-1711). This painting bears an inscription suggesting that Ming dynasty scholars saw this subject as a pun for ‘sweeping away illusions’. The interpretation of sweeping away illusions is also given in the colophon to the illustration of ‘Washing the Elephant’, designed by Ding Yunpeng (fl. 1584-1618), in Fang Yulu’s (fl. 1570-1619) Fangshi mopu (A Manual of Mr. Fang’s Ink [Cake Designs]) published around AD 1588. (fig. 1)

Fig. 1: Woodblock illustration to Fang Shi Mopu (Catalogue of Fang’s Ink Cake Designs), by Fang Yulu, active 1570-1619.

This interpretation comes from the fact that the word for elephant is pronounced xiang – the same as the word for illusion. Showing the elephant being washed using a broom, suggests sweeping, and indeed the Chinese name for this subject is saoxiang , literally ‘sweeping the elephant’ – thus ‘sweeping away illusions’. Comparing the Ding Yunpeng illustration in the Fangshi mopu, which interestingly refers to the Tang dynasty Yan Liben painting, with the image on the porcelain vase shows how confusion may arise in transference between media. The elephant in the woodblock illustration is standing with each foot on an open lotus blossom. This has been misinterpreted on the vase to suggest that the elephant has numerous extended toes.

Illustrations of this scene were popular on late Ming and early Qing dynasty porcelains. For two small brush pots decorated with versions of this scene see Julia B. Curtis, ‘Decorative Schemes for New Markets: The Origins and Use of Narrative Themes on 17th-Century Chinese Porcelain’, International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, London, 1997, p.18, fig. 1, and S. Marchant & Son, Exhibition of Chongzhen-Shunzhi Transitional Porcelain From A Private American Collection, London, 2007, p. 5, no. 1.

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