A Chinese Imperial black-ground famille rose 'floral' bowl
Qing dynasty, Yongzheng mark and...

A Chinese Imperial black-ground famille rose 'floral' bowl

Qing dynasty, Yongzheng mark and period

The vessel thinly potted, with gently everted, rounded sides rising from a short, straight foot, delicately enamelled around the exterior with a leafy meander of flowering camellias, lotuses and other flowers, all on a  black ground, the base with six-character mark in kaishu within a double-circle, 14.2cm diameter.

Provenance: Collection of Fong Chow (1923-2012), curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acquired prior to 1971.

Christie's New York, 22nd March 2013, lot 1205.

清雍正 墨地粉彩繪花卉圖紋碗，青花楷書「大清雍正年製」款

來源：紐約大都會藝術博物館東方藝術部前主任周方（Fong Chow，1923-2012年）舊藏，1971年以前入藏。

紐約佳士得 2013年3月22日拍賣會 第1205號

Bowls of this pattern are extremely rare, with only another of the exact same design published, from the Sir Alfred Beit (1903-1994) collection, sold in Sotheby's, London, 6th November 2013, lot 77. A similar design, described as 'lucky flowers', rendered on a slightly smaller bowl in the doucai palette, in the Nanjing Museum, is illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 132.

Related, but not identical, examples of the pattern are also known, with scrolling lotuses amongst a green leafy meander on black ground; examples include a dish in the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, accession no. 1973.520; a bowl in the Museum of Fine Art, Houston, accession no. 2013.501.A,.B; and a plate in the Shanghai Museum, accession no. CI00052129.

Records of the Imperial Workshops of the reign of Yongzheng report that 'On the 28th day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year, a pair of large black-ground 'Fan' (foreign) floral bowls were produced... Steward Changbao and Chief Eunuch Samuha submitted them.'