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Hi. I have a beautiful delicate 3 friends studio signed rice grain bowl with a few very small rim frits (not chips - just frits which I can take a photo of and send if you like). The piercing forms the snow in the pine, the blossoms on the prunus, the bamboo leaves. Is is lovely. Any thoughts in the age - and also who it is made by? I have some photos with it lit up from within that I can send. Thanks in advance - once again. Stu from NZ

The mark, shown upside down here, reads down in three characters as 'Yan Jing Zhai' (Studio of Refined Inkstones'. I found nothing on this mark in the Gerald Davison book of Chinese ceramic markings, and came up empty-handed in the porcelain context searching by characters on Google as well.

The motif is the very popular 'Three Friends of Winter', consisting of pine, flowering plum and bamboo, with a lingzhi mushroom of immortality thrown in for good measure. It may be the lighting but the green comes across as sort of 20th century in tone.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Thanks for that Bill. I have posted a picture of the rim frit and also a closer pic of the signature FYI. Cheers, Stu

Stu, thanks for the additional pix. In reviewing 'The Great Fortune', a 2002 catalog of the late European collector Georg Weishaupt, I find there's a bowl, 18 cm in diameter, of apparently identical form, decoration and mark illustrated as lot 309 on page 289. The description states:

"A bowl, decorated with 'The Three Friends of Winter', in the centre the sacred fungus. The wall decoration highlighted in grain de riz technique. Iron red base mark 'Yan jing zhai', 'Yan jing Studio'.
Jiaqing epoch"

Presuming the inside of your bowl has a lingzhi mushroom in the middle, it would seem that you may have a period bowl of the Qing Jiaqing reign (1796-1820).

Best regards,

Bill H.

Further to my latest comments, here's a link to Nagel Auktionen in Stuttgart with results from the sale of the cited bowl.

Best regards,

Bill H.

URL Title :3FriendsBowl

It look like Japanese

Well after 9 years (since 2012 - though I have owned this bowl for a lot longer) I have found out a lot about this bowl and it's all very interesting stuff - to say the least. It's definitely Chinese, was one of a pair, numerous auspicious symbols (more than you can first see), has the plum blossom flowering in heaven and on earth (see the bi disk) and is linked to three very important people across almost 1,000 years (a poet, an emperor and a Duke!) - including via a wordless poem that is in the imagery (I will post more re this later). This is in addition to two of the world's most famous collectors of very high-end Chinese porcelain - will also post more re this later. The bowl is extremely rare (there are only two similar bowls - including its 'sister' bowl which is very badly broken and repaired and another in the Met) , very well done, extremely clever and well thought out and is late QL. Also the mark reading on this post is incorrect though thanks Bill for putting me on the right 'track' re this bowl in 2012 - very much appreciated. I'll post re the signature when I post more about the three people involved in making/owning this bowl and the wordless poem in it! This is likely one of the most important bowls you will ever see in it's creation technique and sophistication, beauty and importance re the people, poetry, levels of overt and covert (combined) symbolism etc. As a 'teaser' - well the bowl (and it's sister bowl) have the plum tree flowering in both heaven and earth at the same time - through the use of the bi disk, which has never been shown/done in this manner! Back to you with the rest of the information about this bowl in the near(ish) future.

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