A Pair of Late Kangxi or Yongzheng Porcelain Plates with Doucai Decoration c.1715-1730
A Pair of Late Kangxi or Yongzheng Porcelain Plates with Doucai Decoration c.1715-1735. From the Collection of John Drew (1933 – 2006). The central design is of a lotus pond with two ducks and a further duck in the sky. The border is of The Eight Immortals standing on green sea with crashing waves. Doucai decoration is a colour scheme invented in the 15th century which became popular in the 18th century. It consists of underglaze cobalt with overglaze enamel decoration. Doucai can be translated as ‘contrasting colours’, but perhaps ‘fitted colours’ is a more apt translation as the overgrazed enamels fit inside the underglaze cobalt blue.
The Eight Immortals :
The Eight Immortals are a group of legendary Xian, immortals or transcendents in Chinese mythology. Each Immortals power can be transferred to a power tool that can give life or destroy evil. Together, these eight tools are called `Covert Eight Immortals`. Most of them are said to have been born in the Tang Dynasty or Song Dynasty. They are revered by the Taoists, and are also a popular element in the secular Chinese culture. They are said to live on Penglai Mountain-Island.
The Eight Immortals are :
Immortal Woman He (He Xiangu),
Royal Uncle Cao (Cao Guojiu),
Iron-Crutch Li (LiTieguai),
Lan Caihe.
See Below For More Photographs and Information.
RESERVED
- Condition
- One plate has two chips filled on the back, these were done many years ago, so they have darkened. The other plate has a sealed crack and a small associated chip. The gilding and enamels are in very good condition.
- Size
- Diameter 20.9 cm (8 1/4 inches).
- Provenance
- Robert McPherson Antiques. The John Drew Collection. The John Drew Collection : John Drew was born in 1933 in Tideswell, Derbyshire, where his father was curate. The family moved to Norfolk whilst he was still a baby and his father became the rector of the parish of Intwood and Keswick. He was educated at Sedbergh School and after National Service in the R.A.F. being taught Russian, he went to Queens College, Oxford to read Greats (Classics). He spent nearly all his working life in various African countries as an archivist, moving to a post at Cape Town University in 1978. He remained in Cape Town after his retirement until his death in 2006. He had a great love of the English countryside (but not the climate) and this is shown in many of the pieces he collected. His taste was varied and ranged from Neolithic right through to the 18th Century. When we sent photograph to his home in Cape Town of pieces we thought he might be interested in, he would write long funny well observed letters back, wanting to add many of the items to his growing collection. Over the years we got to know him better and better, and during the last few years it was very rare for him to not want all the pieces we offered him. We knew his taste, even though his taste was so varied. This was in no small part because he had a very good eye and it was a pleasure finding things that interested him, because they were also very interesting to us. He never got to put his collection on display, something he hoped to do while on retirement in England, so it is with a mixture of pleasure and sadness that we offer these pieces from his collection this June. Each piece has a John Drew collection label, so when the collection is split up there will be some lasting record of the love and hard work he put into his two decades of collecting.
- Stock number
- 27432
Photos
Information
- From the John Drew Collection.
From the Collection of John Drew (1933 - 2006).
- A Later Blue and White Porcelain Plate with the Eight Immortals.
- Robert McPherson Antiques : Sold Archive Number 24264.
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A Blue and White Daoguang (1821-1850) Porcelain Plate decorated with the Eight Immortals standing on clouds. The reverse with stylised clouds and cranes in flight. The back with cranes in flight among stylized clouds. The base with a six character Xuande Mark (Ming Mark). Condition In perfect condition. Size Diameter : 25.8 cm (10 inches). Robert McPherson Antiques : Sold Archive.