Sold Ceramics
Sold Famille Verte wares 1680-1725
Famille Verte for Asian Markets
Page 1
It is difficult to identify enamelled porcelain made in the second half of the 17th century for the inter-Asian markets, i.e., the Indonesian archipelago, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Burma and the east coast of India. Written documentation is largely absent and the few Chinese references do not specify shapes and decorations. For underglaze-blue wares we have the Vung Tau wreck of c.1690, but that cargo included no enamelled wares. More information will hopefully come from other systematically salvaged shipwrecks. Meanwhile the literature does not help much either and this subject is rarely broached. Nevertheless, the market must have been substantial in particular after the 1640s when overseas trade and shipments of wares from the kilns in Jingdezhen and in Fujian became irregular due to the civil wars in China. Japanese porcelain shipped by the Dutch and the Chinese, or Vietnamese porcelain may have partly filled the gaps but quantities may not have been substantial enough.
Apart from Jingdezhen porcelain, it was the so-called Swatow or Zhangzhou ware from several local kilns in Fujian that had largely met the demand in south-east Asia.
In 1675 the kilns in Jingdezhen were destroyed and this was a demarcation line in production, marking the end of the extended 'transitional' period and the beginning of a new era, New types were developed for the internal market as well as for export, including wares for the south-east Asian Markets. The new enamel combinations (yellow, red, green) although often harking back to the Shunzhi period, justify the inclusion of these wares in the famille verte context.
A significant number of these inter-Asian market wares have been preserved in the Netherlands , mostly with an Indonesian provenance. They were taken home by retiring Dutchmen after serving in the former Dutch Indies, or collected in situ by people like Reinier Verbeek. In particular the Princessehof Museum in Leeuwarden and the Groninger Museum have a good selection of these wares. (Jörg 2011/2, p.27)
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Verte wares 1680-1725 - Famille Verte for Asian Markets - Page 1
Object 2010942
Dish
China
1680-1700
Height 43 mm (1.69 inch), diameter of rim 207 mm (8.15 inch), diameter of footring 119 mm (4.69 inch)
Dish on footring with gently curving sides and a slightly everted rim. Decorated in famille verte enamels, including green, yellow, grey and iron-red with a roundel filled with a peony and scrolls of leaves within a dense pattern showing four groups of peonies growing from rocks. The sides with spiralling flower sprays, the flowers alternately bending up or down. On the exterior rim is encircled by two concentric bands, The reverse with auspicious symbols: a pearl (beauty) with tassels, a conch shell (royalty) with tassels, a pair of books (spiritual wealth) with tassels, a pearl (beauty) with tassels, a musical stone (blessing) with tassels and a solid lozenge (good luck) with tassels. The footring is encircled by a single, concentric band. Marked on the base with the symbol mark: 'Sacred Fungus' the symbol of longevity, immortality, in a double circle in underglaze blue.
Dishes of this kind represent a rather harsh variant of the famille verte colour scheme, with simple designs, mostly of flowers, without much refinement but with an impression of strength and boldness. They appear to have been produced specially for export to the South-East Asian markets in the second half of the 17th century, but as they have not yet been studied in detail, it is not clear how they developed and if they were made at Jingdezhen or in Southern Chinese kilns as a replacement for Zhangzhou (Swatow) ware. (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.153)
Condition: Various frits and chips to the rim and seven hairlines to the rim.
References:
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 163
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Verte wares 1680-1725 - Famille Verte for Asian Markets - Page 1
Object 2011468
Covered jar
China
1700-1730
Height with cover 98 mm (3.86 inch), height without cover 68 mm (2.68 inch), diameter of rim 89 mm (3.50 inch), diameter of ring knob 30 mm (1.18 inch), diameter of footring 55 mm (2.17 inch)
Covered jar on footring with an almost cylindrical body. The domed cover with a ring knob, the cover and ring with an underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Decorated in famille verte type enamels with a continuous decoration of leafy scrolls and large peony flower heads. The cover is decorated en suite.
The shape, called a 'candy pot' in the West, is known from Kangxi examples, and was made throughout the 18th century until deep into the 19th century. It was a practical object, used to store food and other things and was widely distributed. Objects like these should be counted among the wares made for the south-east Asian markets, and not for Europe where a more refined and segmented decoration was appreciated. Brightly enamelled variations were specially made for the Malaysian market until the early 20th century. (Jörg 2011/2, p.33)
Non-figural designs were suitable for Muslim clients in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, where the red-and-green palette was popular. But merchants who made up cargoes for export, also included such items for shipment to Europe. (Kerr 2015, p.158)
For an identically shaped and similarly decorated covered jar, please see:
Condition: A short glaze hairline to the rim of the cover. A firing flaw with a short connected firing glaze hairline to the underside of the cover, both short glaze hairlines only visible on one side. A frit to the footring.
References:
Price: Sold.
Sold Ceramics - Sold Famille Verte wares 1680-1725 - Famille Verte for Asian Markets - Page 1
Object 2011409
Dish
China
1720-1740
Height 25 mm (0.98 inch), diameter of rim 225 mm (8.86 inch), diameter of footring 122 mm (4.80 inch)
Dish on footring with curved sides and an underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Decorated in various famille verte enamels with a flowering peony plant. On the sides a ruyi border and around the rim floral scolls separated by lotus flower heads border. The reverse is undecorated. (Sargent 2012, p.183)
For a pair of identically decorated dishes, please see:
Condition: Perfect.
References:
Royal Collection Trust - Ceramics - RCIN 1930
Price: Sold.
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