A RARE PAIR OF CARVED RED LACQUER BOWLS

JIAJING SIX-CHARACTER GILT-FILLED INCISED MARKS AND OF THE PERIOD (1522-1566)

细节

A RARE PAIR OF CARVED RED LACQUER BOWLS
Jiajing six-character gilt-filled incised marks and of the period (1522-1566)
Each with deep rounded sides carved with a frieze of boys at play in a garden setting, the boys at different pursuits on the two bowls and reserved against cloud diaper depicting the sky and floret-filled lozenge diaper depicting the ground, below a narrow band of four racing five-clawed dragons, one claw removed, separated by ruyi sprays, and above a petal-lappet band rising from the key-fret band encircling the foot ring, the interiors and foot lacquered in black
4 3/8in. (11.2cm.) diam., box (2)

拍品专文

A similar bowl, also with a gilt-filled incised Jiajing mark, is illustrated by G. Kuwayama, Far Eastern Lacquer, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1982, no. 23. The theme of boys at play, as well as diaper grounds similar to those found on the present pair of bowls and the single bowl mentioned above, can also be found on a dish dated to the Jiajing period, illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Zhongguo gudai qiqi (Chinese Ancient Lacquer), Beijing, 1987, no. 63. The decorative motif of boys at play was popular during the Ming dynasty and was especially so during the Jiajing period when it is often seen on blue and white porcelains.

As mentioned in the text, each dragon is missing one of the five claws from each foot. According to J. Watt and B. Ford, East Asian Lacquer; The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991, p. 96, in the entry for no. 34, the removal of one claw from each foot of five-clawed dragons on lacquer and porcelain of the Wanli and Jiajing periods was quite common. This may have been done when a 'palace piece was given by the emperor to a member of the nobility or a senior official and thus "downgraded"'.