A Faux-Bois Bucket. Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng Period - Photo Sotheby's
the straight, slightly everted sides resting on a low broad footring, naturalistically painted overall in different shades of reddish-brown enamel in imitation of a bucket made from straight wooden slats with a strong grain, held together around the centre and base by hoops of plaited bamboo painted in pale green, the recessed base later drilled with a central hole enabling the bucket to serve as a flower-pot; height 18 cm., 7 1/8 in., 19.4 cm., 7 5/8 in. Estimation: 450,000 - 550,000 HKD
EXHIBITED: Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, The British Museum, London, 1994.
Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques deChine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d’Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 198.
China. The Three Emperors 1662-1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005-6, cat. no. 235.
LITTERATURE: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 947.
NOTE DE CATALOGUE: Porcelain simulations of other materials are one of the many inventions of the Jingdezhen potters during the
Yongzheng period (AD 1723-35), which became even more popular during the Qianlong reign (AD 1736-95). The immensely increased range of glaze and enamel colours and shades in the early 18th century made it possible to create extremely life-like reproductions of other media. Of course, potters had always copied other materials, but the sophistication of these early Qing works lies not only in their verisimilitude, but moreover in the fact that what was copied were not just more precious materials, as previously, but also more humble ones.
Comparable faux-bois flower pots of Yongzheng mark and period, of similar form but supported on low feet, are in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, see Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 146; and Koky Shin shi zuroku. Kkiy, Yseiy/Illustrated Catalogue of Ch’ing Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Republic of China: K’ang-hsi Ware and Yung-cheng Ware, Tokyo, 1980, pl. 97.
Sotheby's. The Meiyintang Collection, Part IV - An Important Selection of Imperial Chinese Porcelains. Hong Kong | 09 oct. 2012 www.sothebys.com