Provenance
Sotheby's New York, 17 September 2003, 'Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art', lot 121. (see added scans)
Sotheby's New York, 19 March 2007, 'Fine Chinese Ceramics And Works Of Art', lot 757.
S. Marchant & Son, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above in 2007, according to the owner's inventory notes.
Illustrated:
Marchant, London, illustrated in their 2025 publication 'One Hundred Years', vol II, p. 168, no. 1295
Description
Of elegant tapering square form rising from a short, splayed foot, the bowl is finely painted in underglaze blue with a continuous frieze of theatrical figures in procession. The lively group includes musicians and entertainers carrying a variety of stage props, all depicted amidst a gently undulating landscape with rocks and stylised vegetation beneath a narrow scroll border. The interior is similarly decorated with two further performers enclosed within a double-square medallion.
Small Jiajing bowls of this unusual square form are rare, particularly examples decorated with figural subjects. Most surviving bowls of comparable shape are instead ornamented with more conventional decorative schemes, such as scrolling lotus, dragons or phoenixes.
Lot 125
Jiajing mark and of the period
L.: 9,9 cm - H.: 6,7 cm
Estimation
€ 20.000,00 – € 40.000,00
Provenance
Sotheby's New York, 17 September 2003, 'Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art', lot 121. (see added scans)
Sotheby's New York, 19 March 2007, 'Fine Chinese Ceramics And Works Of Art', lot 757.
S. Marchant & Son, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above in 2007, according to the owner's inventory notes.
Illustrated:
Marchant, London, illustrated in their 2025 publication 'One Hundred Years', vol II, p. 168, no. 1295