Yellow ground famille rose porcelain ‘Medallion’ bowl

A yellow ground famille rose porcelain bowl, standing on a straight foot rising to rounded sides with slightly flaring rim.The exterior is decorated with four gilt-bordered medallions enclosing peony, aster and lingzhi, divided by peaches growing from leafy branches above cresting waves, all reserved against a bright lemon-yellow sgraffiato ground. The interior is painted in underglaze blue with a central medallion enclosing bamboo and lingzhi growing from a rock emerging from waves, below four large flower sprays.The base is inscribed with a six-character Dauguang seal mark in underglaze blue.

The motifs depicted on the present bowl were carefully selected for their auspiciousness and association with longevity. Bowls of this design were particularly popular within the Daoguang imperial court and were produced in different colour variations. A yellow-glazed bowl of similar type was exhibited in Joined Colors: Decoration and Meaning in Chinese Porcelain.[1] A further example is illustrated in From the Dragon’s Treasure.[2]

Provenance:
Sotheby’s Amsterdam, sale nr. 434, 12 May 1986
Formerly in a Dutch private collection

1. Cort, A. L. and J. Stuart, Joined Colors: Decoration and Meaning in Chinese Porcelain: Ceramics from collections in the Min Chiu Society, Hong Kong, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Smithsonian Institution, Washington D. C. 1993, no. 69, p. 143
2. Avitable, G. and H. Butz, Vom Schatz der Drachen / From the Dragon’s Treasure: Chinesisches Porzellan des 19. Und 20. Jahrhunderts aus der Sammlung Weishaupt, London 1987, pl. 39, p. 43