Lot 63 海屋添籌 | A Chinese blue and white 'Hai Wu Tian Chou 海屋添籌' shallow bowl

海屋添籌 | A Chinese blue and white 'Hai Wu Tian Chou 海屋添籌' shallow bowl

Kangxi mark and of the period

未知

€ 15.000 – € 25.000

OH: H. 5 cm, Diam. 16 cm

未知

Finely painted on the interior with a continuous landscape scene depicting immortals gathered on rocky outcrops beside a pavilion on an island in the sea. One figure holds a tally, while another gestures in conversation, beneath a crane flying overhead with a tally tablet in its beak. The exterior is decorated with a continuous mountainous river landscape.
The scene illustrates the auspicious theme hai wu tian chou (海屋添籌, ‘adding another counter to the Sea House’), a visual pun associated with longevity. According to the legend, each time the sea is transformed into mulberry fields and then returns again, an additional tally is added to record the passage of time. The accumulation of these counters symbolises the attainment of an exceptionally long life. The crane, an emblem of longevity, immortality, and harmony, further reinforces this auspicious message, while the gathering of immortals engaged in discussion evokes wisdom, contemplation, and the enduring passage of time.
Bowls of this type belong to a refined group of early Kangxi period wares and are distinguished by their expressive brushwork, elegant compositions, and sophisticated narrative imagery.
碗內以青花通景繪海上仙山圖，眾仙聚於海島亭閣旁的嶙峋山石之間，一仙手持籌策，另一仙抬手交談，上方仙鶴展翅飛翔，口銜籌策。外壁通景繪江岸山水。
畫面取「海屋添籌」典故，為傳統祝壽題材。相傳滄海每次化為桑田，再復歸為海，便增添一枚籌策，以記錄漫長歲月，籌策不斷累積，遂象徵高壽綿延。仙鶴寓意長壽、成仙與祥瑞，進一步強化賀壽之意，群仙聚談則增添超然出塵、歲月悠長的意境。
此類碗屬清初康熙早期青花瓷中的精雅品種，以筆意生動、構圖疏朗及富有文學內涵的人物故事圖見長。
Reference:
Two near-identical examples were included by S. Marchant & Son, London, in their 1989 exhibition of 'Transitional Wares for the Japanese and Domestic Markets' , p. 36, nos. 48, 49.
A near-identical example from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, illustrated in 'A Culture Revealed. Kangxi Era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection', 2017, pp. 84-85, no. 25. Sold with Sotheby's New York, 20 March 2018, lot 312. (sold USD 60.000,00) (link)
Another near-identical example sold at Christie's New York, 10 May 2011, lot 265. Later sold at Christie's London, 12 September 2018, lot 13. (sold GBP 25.000,00) (link) Another sold with Sotheby's Hong Kong, 4 April 2012, lot 3232. (sold HKD 325.000,00) (link)
A closely related example is in The British Museum, London, registration number Franks.321.+. (link) Another example is in the Butler Family Collection, illustrated by Katherine Butler and Teresa Canepa, 'Leaping the Dragon Gate: The Sir Michael Butler Collection of Seventeenth-century Chinese Porcelain', p. 387, fig. III.4.28a,b.
Provenance:
S. Marchant & Son, London, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 18 May 2009 and accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scans)