Provenance
Jorge Welsh, London/Lisbon, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above in 2006 and accompanied by a copy of their documentation folder. (see added scan)
Description
A finely painted blue and white bowl of deep rounded form, decorated in vivid underglaze cobalt blue with a continuous river landscape populated by sailing vessels, pagodas and mountainous scenery. One side depicts a large two-masted ship with sailors hoisting the sails and standing in elevated bow and stern structures, while the opposite side shows a gentleman being rowed across the water in a smaller vessel. The interior is decorated with a fisherman in a boat, the interior rim is decorated with a border of herons amidst aquatic plants, the centre with a small sailing boat among lotus blossoms. The freely executed brushwork, combining pale washes with darker outlines and stippled accents, is characteristic of the Jiajing period (1522–1566).
The decoration closely relates to an important documented bowl preserved in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden (inv. no. P.O. 3226), formerly part of the celebrated gift sent in 1590 by Grand Duke Ferdinand I de’ Medici of Tuscany to Elector Christian I of Saxony. These porcelains entered the Kunstkammer in Dresden before the rise of Augustus the Strong’s famous collection and are regarded among the earliest documented Ming porcelains in Europe. The Dresden bowl is described in early inventories as a “high porcelain bowl decorated with leaves and blue ship motifs,” and remains one of the seminal surviving examples of early Ming export porcelain in European princely collections.
Comparable bowls with related river landscape decoration are preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul.
Reference:
The above mentioned example in the collection of August the Strong is illustrated by Eva Ströber in 'La Maladie de Porcelain. Ostasiatisches Porzellan aus der Sammlung Augusts des Starken. East Asian Porcelain from the Collection of Augustus the Strong', pp. 16-17, no. 1, inventory no. P.O. 3226.
Another comparable pair is in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, Turkey, one illustrated by R. Krahl and J. Ayers, 'Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul', vol. II, 1986, p. 61, no. 1103 (ref. nos. TKS 15/2614,2624).
Jiajing mark and of the period
Dia.: 12,1 cm - H.: 7,3 cm
Estimation
€ 4.000,00 – € 8.000,00
Provenance
Jorge Welsh, London/Lisbon, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above in 2006 and accompanied by a copy of their documentation folder. (see added scan)