A PAIR OF FAMILLE VERTE DEEP BEAKERS KANGXI PERIOD (1662-172...

Hammer

£8,000

A PAIR OF FAMILLE VERTE DEEP BEAKERS
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
康熙五彩“西廂記”圖紋杯一對
one beaker is decorated with a dramatic interior scene from “The Romance of the Western Chamber” depicting Cui Yingying’s maid Hongniang kneeling before Yingying’s mother. This scene, known as “Hongniang in the Dock”, is set in an interior setting which faces a garden. Madam Cui sits on a stool in front of a screen, holding a stick as she interrogates Hongniang about Yingying’s relationship with Zhang Sheng. A small boy, Madam Cui’s son Huanlang, stands beside her. After confessing to Madame Cui about Yingying’s relationship with Zhang Sheng, Hongniang persuades Madame Cui to accept Zhang Sheng as her son-in-law, whereupon Madame Cui decides that Zhang Sheng must first take the imperial examinations and receive an official appointment before he may marry her daughter. Being witty, cunning and righteous, Hongiang plays a key role in “The Romance of the Western Chamber”. She not only delivers love letters between Zhang Shang and Yingying and arranges a rendezvous for them but also argues their case, thus influencing the outcome of their love affair and the ending to the story. 

The scene on the other beaker is commonly referred to as the “Repudiation of the Billet-Doux”. It is where Zhang Sheng climbs the wall of the Western Chamber to meet Yingying, upon receiving her letter of reply only to be reproached by her, from Part 3, Act 3. The decoration here shows Yingying, sitting in a garden in a relaxed position. Her maid, Hongniang, is standing behind her with a lantern looking up at Zhang Sheng who, with the help of a willow tree, is trying to climb over the wall. The moon and a star constellation denote that the event takes place at night.
10.5cm high

NOTE: A woodblock print comparable to “The Romance of the Western Chamber” illustration is found in the Gelin Shicui - "Selected Examples of Songs and Lyrics", published in the sixteenth year of the Shunzhi period, equivalent to 1659. This woodblock print, depicting the same episode, focuses on a close-up of the scene inside the building but leaves out the garden surroundings. The style of the composition of this woodblock print shows influence of the late Ming edition, but new features can also be detected, particularly in the elimination of the landscape background in order to concentrate on the figural subjects, a manner that became popular in the Qing dynasty.

PROVENANCE: Acquired from Lyon & Turnbull, “Fine Asian Works of Art”, 26 June 2012, Lot 342.

The Leonard Gow Collection (1859 - 1936) Born in Glasgow in the same year his father inherited the Allan. C. Gow shipping company from his brother. Leonard eventually became a partner in Allan. C. Gow and following his father’s retirement, expanded the firm and renamed it Gow, Harrison and Company.

Gow’s exceptional Chinese collection consisted primarily of Kangxi - period porcelains. It also included examples of Yongzheng and Qianlong porcelains, jades and hardstones.

Just one month after his death in 1936, an exhibition of Gow’s entire collection was held at Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow. Alfred H Caspary of New York purchased the greater part of Gow’s collection of Chinese porcelain in 1938 and bequeathed the majority of it to the Philadelphia Museum of Art several years later.

RELATED EXAMPLE: A blue and white dish, dated to the Shunzhi period, is also painted with the scene of “Hongiang in the Dock”. This is in the Ashmolean Museum, Reg. No. EA1978.847.

For a similar pair of beakers although showing different scenes from “The Romance of the Western Chamber”, see “The Collection of the late Lord and Lady Swaythling”, Christies London, 27 May 2022, Lot 1104.

More Information

One beaker has a repaired inside chip of 1cm and a consolidated hairline to the body of approximately 10cm. The other with a repaired inside chip of 0.5cm.