DIMENSIONS

Diameter of saucer: 8 ½ inches

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PROVENANCE

Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, 2001

 

CATALOGUE NOTES

Fine and rare export famille verte bowl and underdish. The bowl (probably a porringer) is of broad expanding form and rests upon a short pedestal foot and has a slightly recessed underfoot. Two trefoil openwork handles are attached at either side. The bowl is surmounted by a slightly overhanging dome shaped cover with broad circular knob finial. The underdish is of broad saucer shape with shallow well and slightly upturned flanged rim. It rests upon a short pedestal foot and has a slightly recessed underfoot. The bowl is decorated along the sides of the exterior with a hen and roster and a pair of Mandarin ducks, separated by flowering plants and rockeries. Beneath this is a lower register of decoration with butterflies and magpies in flowering prunus trees. The upper and lower decoration is separated by a narrow band of scrolling, delineated by raised borders. The two handles are decorated with a salmon roe design. The cover is similarly decorated minus the design of butterflies and magpies  in prunus. The center of the finial is decorated with a flowerhead and leaves. The interior of the bowl and underside of the cover are glazed white. The underdish is original to this covered bowl and  has complementary decoration. All of the painted decoration is very finely done and the famille verte glaze enamels are extremely bright and vibrant. The edges of the bowl, cover, and underdish are glazed a honey brown.

The decoration on this covered bowl and underdish is symbolic of marital bliss and fidelity. It is extremely rare to encounter an example of this type with its original underdish.