Bowl
Category
Ceramics
Date
1700 - 1720
Materials
Porcelain, underglaze cobalt blue (powdered), polychrome overglaze enamels and gold
Measurements
90 mm (Height); 188 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Jingdezhen
Order this imageCollection
Wallington, Northumberland
NT 581606
Summary
Bowl (ensuite stand or undertray NT581654), porcelain, of hemispherical form, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China, 1700-1720; decorated in underglaze blue with a powdered ground, and translucent polychrome (famille verte) enamels and gold, painted alternating four panels in reserve of oblong and fan-shape, the former with kylin or mythical beasts and the other with plant studies, dianthus, the interior with a central design of two tall standing women admiring a potted plant on a stand the inside rim with a foliated trellis border interspersed with four panels with plant studies; the base with pseudo square seal mark painted in underglaze blue within double concentric circles.
Full description
This decorative technique using powdered cobalt as a ground colour is known as chuiqing ('blown blue'), and was extremely popular in the Kangxi period. Chuiqing involved blowing powdered cobalt through a bamboo tube with a filter onto unfired glazed vessels, over masked panels, the reserves, for a very refined appearance. Bowls and undertrays in matching patterns, usually long separated, survive in impressive numbers at Wallington, they may have been used to serve beef broth or other soup at breakfast as part of the morning toilette taken along in ones bed chamber or as a light repast at the end of the day. As it was a French fashion these sets, usually with a cover and two handles on the bowl are known as écuelle.
Provenance
Gift from Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan 3rd Bt
Marks and inscriptions
Base: pseudo square seal mark painted in underglaze blue within double concentric circles Base: 7