108
A SMALL QIANJIANGCAI PORCELAIN HIGH FOOTED CUP SIGNED BY WANG YOUTANG, China, Qing dynasty, late 19th century
h cm 3 x l 9,5
Resting on a tall foot, the lobed dish with four petals features a central landscape painted with the typical delicate colors of the qianjiang style on porcelain; at the top bears the signature of the artist Wang Youtang (汪友棠).
清 十九世纪末 “汪友棠”浅降彩小碟
Catalogue notes:
Wang Youtang, a native of Bishan in Yi County, Anhui Province, was born during the Guangxu reign. He was one of the most famous Qianjiang masters of the late Qing period. Skilled in painting landscapes, figures, birds, and flowers, his landscape paintings follow the style of Mi Fu, depicting mist, woods, bamboo groves, and rocks. Wang was active from the 16th year (1890) to the 33rd year (1907) of the Guangxu reign. His works were often used as gifts among officials and scholars.
The forms of dishes, plates, and basins from the late Qing period follow the tradition of their Ming and early/mid-Qing predecessors. The refined qianjiang plates and basins gradually evolved into works meant for display rather than daily use. Their typical forms include oval, chrysanthemum petal-shaped, plum blossom-shaped, lobed (like the present pedestal dish), and crabapple flower-shaped, with their rims either flared or everted and their bodies either deep or shallow.
Wang Youtang, a native of Bishan in Yi County, Anhui Province, was born during the Guangxu reign. He was one of the most famous Qianjiang masters of the late Qing period. Skilled in painting landscapes, figures, birds, and flowers, his landscape paintings follow the style of Mi Fu, depicting mist, woods, bamboo groves, and rocks. Wang was active from the 16th year (1890) to the 33rd year (1907) of the Guangxu reign. His works were often used as gifts among officials and scholars.
The forms of dishes, plates, and basins from the late Qing period follow the tradition of their Ming and early/mid-Qing predecessors. The refined qianjiang plates and basins gradually evolved into works meant for display rather than daily use. Their typical forms include oval, chrysanthemum petal-shaped, plum blossom-shaped, lobed (like the present pedestal dish), and crabapple flower-shaped, with their rims either flared or everted and their bodies either deep or shallow.
For reference, see the pedestal dish of identical shape but decorated with a crane among trees, signed by Jiang Xichen and dated 1881, in "Qianjiang Ware in the Late Qing Period", Xu Jinfan and Chen Bing, Shanghai Fine Arts Publishers, 2011, page 477, no. 346.
清 十九世纪末 “汪友棠”浅降彩小碟