.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The present bowl belongs to a very small group of ‘chicken’ bowls from the Yongzheng period which was inspired by the famous Ming dynasty doucai ‘chicken’ cups from the Chenghua period (1465-1487). Due to the nature of the bowl’s size, the variety of plants has increased on the Yongzheng examples. Thus, plantain, papyrus, and asters have been added in addition to the peonies to create a harmonious design. The other significant difference between the Chenghua doucai 'chicken' cups and the Yongzheng doucai cups and bowls is the use of a glossy black enamel for the roosters' tails. On the Chenghua vessels the tails are painted in underglaze cobalt blue and overglaze khaki-brown enamel. The Yongzheng tails are also fuller and more naturalistically painted than their Ming dynasty counterparts.
The combination of roosters and peonies is a particularly popular theme on Chinese ceramics because they form the auspicious rebus for 'a successful official with riches and honours'. The term for rooster in Chinese gongji, while the word for crowing is ming. Together they form the term gongming, which sounds like the phrase meaning 'successful official'. The peony is often known as the flower of riches and honours, fuguihua. Thus, roosters with peonies suggest gongming fugui, which can be translated as the wish for successful office with riches and honours. 'Chicken' cups were also described as 'wedding cups' by the 17th century writer Gu Yingtai (1620-1690) in his Bowu yao lan (The General Survey of Art Objects). The subject on the present bowl, showing a family group of rooster and hen with many offspring, would have been entirely suitable for this purpose and have been appropriate for use or as gifts on a wedding.
A similar bowl is in the collection of the Umezawa Kinenkan Museum, illustrated by Taru Nakano in Tenkai shashin ni yoru Chugoku no monyo (The Panoramic Views of Chinese Patterns), Tokyo, 1985, pl. 75. A closely related example in the Chang Foundation, Taipei, is illustrated in Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 139. The present bowl can also be compared to another pair of virtually identical bowls from the Yongzheng period, sold at Christie’s London 12 May 2009, lot 166.
The combination of roosters and peonies is a particularly popular theme on Chinese ceramics because they form the auspicious rebus for 'a successful official with riches and honours'. The term for rooster in Chinese gongji, while the word for crowing is ming. Together they form the term gongming, which sounds like the phrase meaning 'successful official'. The peony is often known as the flower of riches and honours, fuguihua. Thus, roosters with peonies suggest gongming fugui, which can be translated as the wish for successful office with riches and honours. 'Chicken' cups were also described as 'wedding cups' by the 17th century writer Gu Yingtai (1620-1690) in his Bowu yao lan (The General Survey of Art Objects). The subject on the present bowl, showing a family group of rooster and hen with many offspring, would have been entirely suitable for this purpose and have been appropriate for use or as gifts on a wedding.
A similar bowl is in the collection of the Umezawa Kinenkan Museum, illustrated by Taru Nakano in Tenkai shashin ni yoru Chugoku no monyo (The Panoramic Views of Chinese Patterns), Tokyo, 1985, pl. 75. A closely related example in the Chang Foundation, Taipei, is illustrated in Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 139. The present bowl can also be compared to another pair of virtually identical bowls from the Yongzheng period, sold at Christie’s London 12 May 2009, lot 166.