A blue and white charger, Qing dynasty, Kangxi (1662-1722).
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Depicting seven children playing under the watchful eye of four ladies in a balustrade garden with ornamental rocks, tress and other vegetation. The children take part in various activities: one with a lotus bloom dangling from a rod, another plays with a crab. Towards the rear of the design fine swirling clouds can be seen obscuring pavilions. Diameter 31,5 cm.
Repair to rim and fritting.
Provenance
Purchased at Guest & Gray, London, 2006.
The Avalon Collection Part II.
This collection, which in the main focuses on the Interregnum and Kangxi periods has been both carefully and sensitively formed over the last twenty-five years. The collector, a member of the English Oriental Ceramic Society, has assembled the collection with an eye for provenance whilst purchasing from old European collections, well-established antique dealers and at auction.
Academically, the pieces have been well researched both in terms of their symbolism and narrative themes. In many instances the imagery on the pieces has been referenced to episodes in the romantic and historic novels of Chinese mythology, which were used extensively in the decoration of seventeenth century Chinese porcelain.
Literature
Whilst the scene on the plate is both charming and visually pleasing, all its symbolism refers to the theme of “welcoming sons” – “zhaozi”.