A magnificent imperial yellow-ground landscape bowl with gently rounded sides and lipped rim superbly painted with monochromatic landscape panes in puce showing pavilions and cottages nestled in the foothills of mountains, with scholars and their acolytes travelling along mountain paths or crossing a bridge, each scene meticulously conceived with rocky ledges and tall trees in the foreground and lofty mountain ranges on the distant horizon, the enamels in different shades with finely brushed details, each panel enclosed and linked by a border of formal bronze-form interlocking brackets in two shades of brown, reserved on a striking yellow ground interspersed with shou- medallions and archaistic cash motifs in a bubble-suffused enamel over a matching key fret border above the foot, the foot encircled by a band of fretwork, the interior glazed turquoise, the base with a four character apocryphal Qianlong mark in gold enamel within a double square. 6 in.
Provenance: New York Collection
Referred to as the "Bernat Bowl" because it was held in the collection of Paul and Helen Bernat until sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, November 15, 1988, lot 35, that bowl is one of the rarest produced during the Qianlong period.
The one offered here is the duplicate but made during the late 19th/20th C and so close a replication that the description above is taken verbatim from the Sotheby's catalogue text of the Bernat Bowl except to the extent that some minor differences in the scenes within the panes, the foot band of our bowl is of fretwork, the interior is glazed turquoise without decoration and the Qianlong mark is in gold enamel.
The bowl is one of those rare and fine pieces of porcelain made during the later part of the Qing Dynasty, Republic Period.
