A very rare doucai 'double lotus' bowl


Yongzheng six-character mark and of the periodElegantly and thinly potted, the exterior finely painted in soft underglaze blue with delicate outlines and brightly enamelled in vivid iron-red, soft yellow and green with three meanders of double-headed lotus issuing from foliate scrolls bordered by fine lines of underglaze blue, the centre of the interior with a similar medallion enclosing a lotus flowerhead, box. 12.3cm (4 3/4in) diam. (2).
|清雍正 鬥彩並頭蓮紋碗青花「大清雍正年製」楷書款This form of bowl, sometimes known as a 'chicken heart bowl' (ji xin wan 雞心碗), with broad and deep curving sides atop a narrow, slightly inward-tapering foot, helps to create a greater sense of finesse, conforming to the exacting standards and aesthetic taste of the Yongzheng emperor. The Yongzheng emperor personally influenced the artistic direction of the Imperial kilns, achieving together with the celebrated kiln supervisor Tang Ying, an unsurpassed standard of quality, aesthetic subtlety and refinement. Such porcelain became known as the 'Inner Court manner' (Neiting gong zao zhi shi 內廷恭造之式), and is well represented in the present lot. The motif of twin lotus flowers on one stalk provides the rebus for bingdi tongxin 並蒂同心, 'May you have a harmonious marriage and share the same ideas'. In the horticulturalist Chen Haozi's 陳淏子 (1612-?) book, The Flower Mirror (Hua jing 花鏡), he wrote that 'both among red and white flowers, there are those with one stem and two flowers'.Compare with a very similar doucai 'double lotus' bowl, Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Sun Yingzhou de taoci shijie, Beijing, 2003, pp.216-217. See also a closely related doucai 'double lotus' bowl, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated by Xu Huping, Treasures in the Royalty: The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p.228.See a similar pair of doucai bowls, Yongzheng marks and period, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 3046.碗敞口，深弧腹，圈足。內、外壁白釉平整潤澤。外壁以鬥彩繪三朵折枝並頭蓮，內底心繪一朵盛開蓮花，圈足內底青花書「大清雍正年製」楷書款。並頭蓮又稱並蒂蓮，代表並蒂同心，有男女好合或夫妻恩愛的美好寓意。清人陳淏子《花境·荷花》云：「並頭蓮，紅白具有，一幹兩花」。類似以並頭蓮繪飾者，見北京故宮博物院藏雍正一例，著錄於《孫瀛洲的陶瓷世界》，北京，2003年，頁216-217。此式茶碗在乾隆早期亦有燒造，見南京博物院藏乾隆一例，著錄於徐湖平編，《宮廷珍藏中國清代官窯瓷器》，上海，2003年，頁228。另見香港佳士得曾售出一對清雍正鬥彩並頭蓮碗，2010年12月1日，拍品3046。