A rare pair of Imperial yellow and green-enamelled 'boys at play' bowls, Yongzheng six-character marks and of the period

Provenance: An important European private collection formed during the first half of the 20th century, and thence by descent.

Notes: The European collector (1880-1952) was an entrepreneur with early links to Russia and Japan. From 1911-1917 he lived in St. Petersburg where he owned a company selling high-quality stainless steel, and where he learned the Russian language. 

Although he first visited Japan in 1907, it was in 1920 that he returned home to set up a sales operation similar to that in St. Petersburg which had been halted three years earlier due to the political upheaval. He spent several years in Osaka and Kobe, when his interest in Japanese works of art commenced. Once again he realised the benefit of learning the language in order to facilitate the acquiring of works of art. The result was a fine collection of woodblock prints, netsuke, inro, porcelain (in particular Kakiemon vases), swords, lacquer and silver.

It was in the 1930s when back in Japan, that he extended his collection to include Chinese art. Fine porcelain, Tang silver, and early bronzes were his particular interests, and he studied these subjects both in books and through his discussions with his friend Kusaka Shogado, who was a leading dealer based in Kyoto, and from whom he made many purchases. He visited Japan for the last time in 1938, when he bought numerous items for his collection.

The design of the present pair of bowls follows that of 'boys at play' decorated in green against yellow ground, which first appeared during the Jiajing period; see from the Qing Court Collection, a green and yellow ground 'boys at play' bowl, Jiajing mark and of the period, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, pl.85. The Jiajing period design combined the auspicious subject matter, which first appeared in underglaze-blue and white in the early Ming period, with the green and yellow palette, which was used since the Zhengde period.

The inspiration taken from the Ming dynasty during the Yongzheng period reflects the emperor's fascination with antiquity and his appreciation of the aesthetic conception and technical ability of the Ming potters. S.Jenyns in Ming Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1953, p.103, notes that reproductions of these wares is mentioned in the list of porcelain supplied to the Court, compiled in 1729 by Tang Ying (1682-1756), the director of the Jingdezhen Imperial kilns.

The motif of 'boys at play' was one of the most favoured subjects during the Ming and Qing dynasties, representing the wish for many sons and perpetuity of the family, and in the Imperial context, for the dynasty.

Similar bowls are preserved in important museum and private collections; see a bowl from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, pl.100; another bowl is in the British Museum, London (museum no.1911,0603.3); two other examples are illustrated by T.M.Eliens, Imperial Porcelain from the Shanghai Museum, Amsterdam, 2011, pls.39-40; another one is illustrated by J.Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol.2, Geneva, 1999, p.82, no.203; see also another published in Chinese Porcelain: The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, pl.103; and another included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1992, no.148.

Compare a pair of yellow and green glazed 'boys' bowls, Yongzheng marks and of the period, which was sold at Christie's London on 8 November 2011, lot 428; and another similar pair which was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong on 5 October 2011, lot 2126. 

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART, 2016-11-29, 14:00 HKT - HONG KONG, ADMIRALTY