Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries

Hi there forum friends. Hoping to get some opinions on this lovely bowl with a Jiaqing mark. It is a gentle hexagon form with each panel decorated with a combination of different flowers and birds. I would like opinions about if you believe it is of the period or later. Thanks! I will post more pictures of the details.

More photos

and more

In my opinion, the bowl may date to around the end of the Qing dynasty. The mark (shown upside down) is written fairly well, although I believe period Jiaqing marks are known to come in a wider variety of calligraphic styles than those of the preceding Qianlong era. However, the manner in which the birds are painted appears to differ from what I'm used to seeing for the period. The feathers are outlined fairly well but seem to be missing the dots that usually highlight them. This is particularly conspicuous on the phoenix on your bowl. Here's an image of a chamber pot from circa 1800 that shows what I mean in the depiction of a bird that somewhat resembles the one in the next to the last of your pictures.

Best regards,

Bill H.

The decoration is quite painterly and appealing, but from the enamel colors and the secondary quality of the porcelain I would guess made no earlier than late 19th century, and possibly early Republic period (ca. 1916-20). It is possible that the decorator had worked at Imperial wares at Jingdezhen, but the materials available to him did not measure up to pre-1870 resources.

You do not give a good profile photo or a good overall view of the foot, but the piece appears to have warped a little in first firing. In earlier times the enamel and decorator time would not have been expended on such a piece.

The turquoise-enamel covering the entire inside was probably to conceal flaws in the porcelain. It probably has a high lead content, so do not drink from it.

Good luck,
Cal

Thank you for your thoughts. I certainly appreciate your observations and feedback. I have attached some additional examples of some bowls of this exact form and size from this period. The mark is very well executed as well and although it is hard to tell in the photos because they are so magnified the birds are actually tiny so the detail on this piece is incredible.

I also read that there was a slightly less "fine" porcelain available during the Jiaqing period than in Qianlong - that is the actual porcelain - not the execution of the pieces or decoration. I literally just read that but now I can't remember where! I will try to dig back through my pile of books.

The photos below are from the Christie's website past sales Jiaqing examples "mark and of the period" for whatever that means to you. . .

So for the sake of sharing interesting knowledge would anyone here like to interpret the symbolism of some of the combinations of birds and flowers? Each panel has a different selecting of flowers and a specific bird. In combination they carry auspicious meaning.

Hi, I am very interested in the above Bowl, is it still for sale and price Regards Trevor Hill

Beautiful aren't they, turn me on too.

Oh and sorry Bill for not rotating my photo of the mark . . . I know you must find that monumentally irritating. I was aware that it was upside down but just feeling lazy. Just for you:

Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries |