S1210
£48,000
Description
Chinese porcelain famille verte large deep saucer dish painted in vivid bright and fresh enamels with Yingying resting on a wutong branch, with her hand placed under her qin, while her maid Hongniang points up at Zhang Sheng playing his qin at a balcony window, while his attendant crouches down, all in a elaborate scene at night beneath stars and a gilt moon, with another building in the distance amongst clouds, the garden below with willow, pine, rockwork and plantain, with a stone table set with a bonsai and a branch of flowering prunus, encircled by a border with eight reserves of precious objects including books, scrolls, ruyi-sceptre, rings, wrapped qin, horn, weiqi games board, counter holders and a branch of coral, mostly tied with ribbons, all dispersed between different geometric grounds, the base with an underglaze blue leaf mark within a double ring.
15 3/8 inches, 39 cm diameter.
Kangxi, c. 1700.
Provenance & Additional Information
- From the collection of the Daelemans family, Belgium.
- Included by Marchant in their Recent Acquisitions catalogue, 2008, no. 49, pp. 108/9 (one of a pair).
- This scene is taken from Xixiang Ji, The Romance of the Western Chamber by Wang Shifu, and is taken from book 4, scene 13. This romantic scene in which Hongniang takes Yingying into the garden to hear Zhang Sheng playing the musical instrument, sometimes titled “Listening to the Qin” is traditionally regarded in China as the highlight of the story. See Famille Verte: Chinese Porcelains in Green Enamels by Christiaan Jörg for a record of 25 scenes and several woodblock prints taken from the 1468 edition of Xixiang Ji.
Condition
Good condition, one small chip and all rim frits filled, two holes in the foot rim for hanging, some wear.
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