Fine and rare pair of ogee shaped foliated famille rose chicken bowls, each bowl beautifully decorated in vibrant enamels with multicolored hens and a red rooster all in a garden setting amidst a profusion of flowering bushes and trees, the fowl painted in rich detail, the gilt rim foliated, the interior with a cavieto painted with two bursting pomegranates and blooming flower, the base with a four character Chenghua mark in iron red. Possibly Daoguang/First Half 19th C. 5 1/2 in. diam. Small chip to exterior of foot of one.
Provenance: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Collection
The ogee shape with foliated rims on these bowls are unusual. We have been unable to find any chicken bowls of this ogee shape with foliated rims that have been published. However, a Jiaqing period ogee shaped bowl with a foliated rim appearing identical to the bowls offered here but with a mountain landscape is published in and described by H.A. Van Oort. "Chinese Porcelain of the 19th and 20th Centuries", The Netherlands, 1977, p. 21, pls. 8,9.
Bowls decorated with chickens were made throughout the Qing Dynasty. The usual form are cups rather than bowls; and as indicated the shape of the bowls offered here is rare. Compare a pair of famille rose Qing Dynasty chicken bowls with chickens amongst rockwork and flowers, Christies Hong Kong, January 13, 1987, Lot 454; a pair of Qianlong chicken bowls. Christies New York, December 2, 1989, Lot 391 and a Qianlong covered famille rose chicken bowl, Sotheby's New York, November 29, 1993, Lot 303.
