Lot 125

Lot 125
Treasury 6, no. 1319
HK$228,000

Keen Fisherman

Famille rose enamels on colourless glaze on porcelain; with a convex lip and recessed flat foot surrounded by a protruding convex footrim; painted with a continuous snowy riverside scene with a fisherman wrapped in a straw coat fishing from the prow of his partially covered skiff beneath a bare willow; the foot inscribed in iron-red seal script Daoguang nian zhi (Made during the Daoguang period); the lip, inner neck, and interior glazed
Imperial kilns, Jingdezhen, 1821–1850
Height: 7.35 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.6/1.1 cm
Stopper: coral; gilt-bronze collar

Lot 125 Provenance:
Hugh Moss (HK), Ltd (1994)

Published:
Treasury 6, no. 1319

Lot 125 Commentary:
The subject of a fisherman in a snowy riverscape first appears on ceramics during the Qianlong period (see a magnificent set of two identical ovoid vases in the imperial collection in Guoli Gugong bowuyuan 1967, vol. 1, plates 2 and 3). It was then revived during the Daoguang period on a small series of imperial porcelain snuff bottles, again probably made in sets, but with varying compositions. Although the two Qianlong vases are host to a more complex composition and a lengthy poetic inscription in clerical script, it is obviously the inspiration for this bottle even though the elements have been simplified. In both cases the fisherman sits huddled in his partially covered skiff floating amidst snow-covered reeds, with bare trees and jutting segments of the riverbank surrounding him. There are more trees and a good deal more of the riverbank on the earlier vases, and the trees here are simply bare winter trees rather than willows. The same design appears, although less commonly, on the snuff dishes that by the Daoguang period seem to have become a standard part of snuff-taking paraphernalia (see under Treasury 6, no. 1110).

The shape of the present bottle is a standard for the Daoguang reign, although not among the most common, and is the usual shape for this subject.

The white enamel of the famille rose palette comes into its own here. Often when white is used it looks a little uncomfortable. It is a thick enamel and tends to stand out, but here it is ideally suited to its role as snow that has settled on branches and banks. For another example of the same subject but with stronger colouring, see Geng Baochang and Zhao Binghua1992, no. 165.