AN EXTREMELY RARE PAIR OF DOUCAI 'SANDUO' BOWLS, 16TH TO 17TH CENTURY
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

China, circa 1540-1680. Each finely potted with rounded sides rising to a gently everted mouth rim, delicately painted on the exterior with enamels in underglaze-blue outlines to depict three fruiting and flowering sprays of pomegranate, lychee, and finger citron, together forming the auspicious sanduo, ‘Three Abundances.’

The interior medallion features a leafy cluster of peaches in shaded apple-green and iron-red, enclosed within double lines repeated below the rim, as well as an iron-red dragon band around both the exterior and interior rims. (2)

The base of each with a six-character mark da Ming Jiajing nianzhi and either of the period (1522-1566) or slightly later, up to the 17th century.

Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. According to the Myers ledger acquired on 19 December 1977 from Laméris and in the collection for 49 years. Frides Laméris (1921–2003) was a Dutch specialist in antique glass and porcelain. She co-founded Laméris Glass & Antiques in Amsterdam in 1963 with Trudy Laméris. Over the decades she became widely respected for her connoisseurship and expertise. She also appeared as an expert on the Dutch television program “Tussen Kunst en Kitsch.” After her death, the Laméris gallery continued under the next generation of the family.
Condition: Very good condition with old wear and firing flaws, including fritting, glaze crackling, few dark spots, rubbing and flaking to the enamels and glaze. Some minor Kintsugi repairs.

Weight: 422 g (total)
Dimensions: Height 6.5 cm, Diameter 12 cm (each)

The present pair of bowls belongs to an extremely rare group of Jiajing doucai-decorated vessels closely following Chenghua prototypes. A related washer of larger size (16 cm diameter) in the Shanghai Museum is illustrated by Lu Minghua, Mingdai guanyao ciqi, Shanghai, 2007, p. 211, pl. 4-10. The Shanghai example is dated to the Jiajing period, although the base is unglazed. It is possible that the original reign mark may have been removed. A related small cup decorated with flower sprays, bearing a Jiajing reign mark, from the J.M. Hu Collection, was sold at Christie's New York, 15 September 2009, lot 353. The latter is based on earlier Ming prototypes from the Chenghua stratum at Jingdezhen.

No directly comparable prototypes for the present pair of bowls appear to be found among extant Chenghua or Jiaqing examples. The fruiting branches on the current bowls also relate to the decoration found on a number of pieces from the Chenghua stratum at Zhushan, Jingdezhen, included in the Tsui Museum of Art exhibition A Legacy of Chenghua, Hong Kong, 1993, illustrated in the catalog, nos. C115, C117 and C122.

In these bowls, the characteristic doucai process is evident: the designs are first drawn in underglaze blue and then completed with enamel colors, including iron red and translucent apple green applied above the glaze. While related to the broader wucai tradition, the decoration follows the more disciplined doucai approach, in which the blue outlines define the composition and the enamels softly fill and enrich the motifs.

The present lot is an early example from the Jiajing reign, which was later refined during the Yongzheng Emperor's period. The design of fruiting branches and the dragon-band motif references two of several Chinese Emperor's passions: the reverence for antiquity and the love of auspicious symbols, both of which were integral to the decoration of all Imperial residences and belongings. The present design, featuring sprays of fruiting finger citron, lychee, and pomegranate, represents a variation of the auspicious sanduo ('three abundances') motif. These fruits are symbols of endless long life, an abundance of offspring, and plentiful blessings. The pomegranate, bursting with seeds, symbolizes the wish for plentiful offspring; the lychee, whose Chinese name lizhi is homophonous with the phrase 'establish a son' (lizi), represents an abundance of descendants; and the finger citron, often referred to as 'the Buddha's hand,' serves as an emblem of longevity, happiness, and good fortune. The dragon band around the rim further reinforces the auspicious theme.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 20 September 2013, lot 1295
Price: USD 543,750 or approx. EUR 644,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An extremely rare doucai brush washer, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1522-1566)
Expert remark: Compare the similar motif, decoration, enamels and period. Note also the similar size (14.1 cm).