East Asia, China, Qing Dynasty, ca. 18th to 19th century CE. A magnificent ceramic bowl presenting a rounded bottom and impressively thin walls that spread outwards to a wide, ovoid rim, all sitting upon a ring-form foot. Enveloped in a white underglaze, the gorgeous vessel has been meticulously painted with decorative ornaments and narrative scenes in "Famille Rose" hues of blue, yellow, pink, violet, red, green, orange, tan, brown, gray, and black, while lustrous gilding adorns the rim and foot. The interior of the dish boasts an ornate horizontal band of floral motif just below the rim and a relatively minimalist design of flowers and leaves at the center. Alternatively, the exterior is embellished by 4 rococo-style, narrative scenes - 2 larger, rectangular segments and 2 smaller, ovoid sections - all framed by abstract, vegetal motif frames and divided from one another via multi-colored rose, leaf, and flower designs. Size: 16" L x 15.5" W x 6.4" H (40.6 cm x 39.4 cm x 16.3 cm)
Rendered in highly complex detail, the pair of larger scenes are each comprised of several male and female figures, some repeated to suggest that the scene may display multiple sequences in the same story, all interacting within an interior setting in one scene and an outdoor location in the other. The smaller motifs appear to be pastoral love scenes, each presenting a pair of figures in the countryside.
Famille rose bowls were first developed in the Yongzheng reign (ca. 1723 to 1735) and are characterized by decoration in opaque overglaze rose colors. This represented a new style of pigment for Chinese porcelain; the pigment could be fired at a lower temperature. The color range was wider, and individual colors appeared soft and gentle, giving the style another name, "ruan cai," which means "soft colors." During the Qianlong reign, yellow-ground became common (Yongzheng examples feature rose-colored artwork on a white background), as did the fine outlines you can see here around the motifs on the piece.
Provenance: private Los Angeles, California, USA collection, acquired 1980s to 2000s
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#168086
Condition
Chip to base. Some nicks to glaze throughout. Losses to some areas of gilding. Otherwise, intact and excellent with impressive preservation of pigments and detail.