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Description: Cette forme inspirée de modèles islamiques, apparut en Chine pendant la deuxième moitié du 14e siècle. La panse ornée d'un décor auspicieux comprenant martin-pêcheurs et paons sur fond de fleurs de pivoines et rochers. La palette du décor de notre verseuse, malgrés que non marquée, ainsi que le style de peinture libre de contraintes et la qualité générale de la forme et peinture nous guident vers une datation de la première moitié du 18e siècle. A la base non marquée, le pied non gla?uré laisse appara?tre une pate blanche et pure, donc filtrée et tamisée de multiple fois durant la préparation. Au dessus du pied ainsi qu'en dessous du col, une bande de chauves souris stylisées. Le col émaillé à l'or. Hauteur : 26 cm CHINA, XVIIIth century. Ewer Decorated with Peacocks, Magpies and Flowers from Four Seasons The shape of this elegant ewer evolved from a Middle Eastern-influenced type, zhihu, which was already being produced in China in the second half of the fourteenth century. The ewer is robustly crafted and its exposed unglazed ring of body at the rim of the foot shows unblemished white with a hint of pink. The high-quality clay, often used between the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, builds a foundation for the entire vessel’s creamy hue. Its handle, spout, and little cloud-shaped bridge linking the spout to the neck are simply sculpted, and their undulating outlines create an elevated visual pull, adding to the slim silhouette of the vessel. The overall creamy quality and unadorned spout and handle remind us of those top-notch export wares created in Jingdezhen and decorated in Canton.(1) The bird-and-flower painting on the main body is not only visually sophisticated but also denotes auspicious messages. This happy meaning is first suggested by three strings of ferrous coral bats circling the mouth rim and the gently splaying foot. The bat and happiness are homophonous in Chinese. Centered around the monochrome rocks, branches of four kinds of flowers, a pair of peacocks, and a pair of magpies are evenly distributed across the surface of the vessel. The designer ensures that the surface on the one side, divided by the handle and the spout, displays the peacocks and at least two kinds of flowers, and the other side focuses on the magpies. Yet the overall composition shows no mechanical division. The designer and painter of the ewer, like those masters in the Canton workshops, would have been used to this kind of visual balance across surfaces, which was often requested by the court commission of decoration. The composition, themes, and color palette of the painting follow the style of the Ming court artists Bian Wenjing (before 1356–after 1436), Lin Liang (c.1436–1494), and especially Lü Ji (c.1429–1505) (2). The thick turquoise and black enamel pigment, together with gold in the peacocks’ feathers and around the magpies’ eyes, strengthen the visual dynamic and vigor known from the Ming court style. Yet the iridescent glow of the turquoise, green and blue pigment is a typical trait seen since the second half of the seventeenth century. Similar to Lü Ji’s famous painting, The Peacock and Apricot Flower (203.4cm x 110.6cm, accession no. Guhua 000887N000000000), in the National Palace Museum, the painting on the vessel depicts not only peacocks and apricot flowers but also ostensibly places peonies, which is homophonous with the word referring to official rank (Chinese: jue), at the center of the composition. The pair of, probably male and female, peacocks conveys wishes for both public success and conjugal harmony, which is also symbolized by the two charming conversing magpies. The pair of magpies signifies double joy (Chinese: shuangxi), meaning two happy occasions coinciding. The other two types of flowers, namely sunflowers on the lower part and chrysanthemums on the magpies’ side, do not naturally blossom in the same season as peonies and apricot flowers. The juxtaposition of these flowers at the same time is a generic convention symbolizing an extremely felicitous occasion when flowers from different seasons may flourish simultaneously. Aside from these specific representations, the entire visual form conveys overflowing prosperity and happiness as well. Obviously following peony master Yun Shouping’s (1633–1690) “boneless” style, the subtle gradation of the peony petals on the ewer shows no visible outline. More visual evidence of the court’s influence is seen in the apricot flowers’ pistils and stigmas, painted in vibrant enamel pigment en relief. These flowers are evenly attached to a branch which wittily extends over the neck to the mouth of the ewer. In summary, the material quality, artistic style, and visual symbolism suggest that this piece could have been commissioned by a high-ranking client for a happy occasion such as a wedding or betrothal. (1) Shan Jixiang, Yang Zhigang, eds., Ming-Qing Export Porcelain from the Palace Museum and the Shanghai Museum (Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 2015), 306-7. (2) James Cahill, Parting at the Shore: Chinese Painting of the Early and Middle Ming Dynasty, 1368-1580 (New York: Weatherhill, 1978), 22–23, 54–56. 中國 十八世紀 粉彩花開富貴成雙成對紋執壺
