78
Colours Beyond Landscapes: Important Chinese Art including European and American Collections
不止青綠 ：歐美藏家藏中國色彩藝術珍品
3315
明永樂 甜白釉暗刻菊瓣紋雞心盌
AN INCISED SWEET-WHITE GLAZED BOWL
YONGLE PERIOD, 1403-1424
PROVENANCE
1. Collection of Henry Charles Lea (1825-1909), Philadelphia,
possibly acquired in 1900s from Ningbo, thence by descent to
Charles Matthew Lea (1853-1927), and later by descent to the
estate of Mary Mason Hudson
2. Sotheby's New York, 20 March 2002, lot 181
3. Sotheby's Hong Kong, 3 April 2019, lot 3305
4. Collection of Chamber of Young Snow
D 16cm
The bowl is superbly potted with with deep rounded sides
converging to a pointed base, supported on a narrow, gently
tapering foot. The central interior is incised with a stylised flower,
encircled by a floral band and interlocking strapwork motifs
rendered in the anhua technique, all below a cash coin diaper band
around the rim. The exterior is incised with a keyfret border above
a band of long lappets encircling the foot. It is covered overall in an
opaque white glaze.
The present bowl belongs to a group of sweet white-glazed (tianbai)
porcelain bowls favoured during the Yongle period. Its subtle
combination of incised and anhua decoration on a beautifully
potted lianzi shape manifested one of the most classic decorative
repertoires in the early Ming dynasty. Anhua, ‘hidden decoration’,
was practised almost exclusively at the beginning of the Ming
dynasty, from the Hongwu to the Xuande period, and only at
Jingdezhen.
Although blue and white bowls of this form and decoration were
also produced, including one in the British Museum, London,
illustrated in Soame Jenyns, Ming Pottery and Porcelain, London,
1988, pl. 28B, the Yongle Emperor is believed to have preferred
monochrome white wares, and blue and white counterparts of
such bowls only became popular later during the Xuande period.
Closely related white-glazed bowls rendered in this decoration
include one from the Frederick M. Mayer collection, also formerly
in the A.D. Brankston and Eumorfopoulos collections, sold at
Christie’s London, 24 June 1974, lot 81; and another sold in
Sotheby’s New York, 20 March 2002, lot 181. Compare also a
white-glazed bowl decorated in the same techniques, but with
the interior and exterior designs reversed, from the Qing court
collection and now preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
included in the Museum’s exhibition, Imperial Porcelains from the
Reigns of Hongwu and Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, 2015,
pl. 117.
此碗即為永樂一朝典型之甜白器，碗敞口，深弧壁，圈足。
外壁暗刻一周蓮瓣紋，若隱若現。通體施甜白釉，釉質致密
細膩，釉色恬靜溫潤，純若凝脂，素猶積雪，甚適於心。整
體器型碩大，釉色潔素瑩然，紋飾流暢舒展，佈局清疏自
然，工藝精緻細膩，充分彰顯甜白釉之純美，甚愜心賞，當
為永樂瓷器之珍品，彌足珍貴。
作為宮廷瓷器的主要品種，白釉瓷器的製作在明代從未間斷
過，而以永樂，宣德二朝所制為佳。萬曆十七年王世懋的
《窺天外乘》中謂：「永樂，宣德年間，內府燒造，迄今為
貴。其時以鬢眼甜白釉為常。」此種潔素瑩然的白釉瓷深得
永樂皇帝喜愛，這也是白瓷於永樂一朝風行的主要原因，因
其色澤純美動人，更是冠絕後世。
甜白釉瓷器以明代永樂窯生產的最為著名，甜白一詞出現於
明代黃一正所著的《事物紺珠》中，有「騌眼甜白」之說。
甜白釉瓷是在元代樞府瓷的基礎上，由明代永樂一朝景德鎮
官窯創燒而成，此時期景德鎮窯工在瓷胎中提高了高嶺土和
氧鋁的含量，從而提高了瓷釉本身的白度和透光度，胎質變
得潔白致密，並避免了瓷釉白中泛青的情況，使瓷器更加潔
白純淨，幾近無暇，給人以瑩然似玉之觀感。便給人一種
「甜」的感受，故名「甜白」。永樂甜白瓷恬靜冷美，超然
物外，讓原本單一的白色呈現出無與倫比的色感，體現了中
國瓷器「合於天造，厭於人意」的美學境界。沒有青花的藍
白相映，沒有彩瓷的繁復繽紛，卻素有「白如凝脂，素猶積
雪」之譽，為單色釉中的貴族。
此拍品上的設計為明初經典，其纏枝花紋亦見於同期青花瓷
及青瓷上。北京故宮博物院收藏一例，原屬清宮舊藏，其形
飾尺寸與此拍品接近，收編於《明代洪武永樂御窯瓷器：景
德鎮御窯遺址出土與故宮博物院傳世瓷器對比》，北京，
2015，圖版117；台北故宮亦藏有一件甜白四季花卉紋蓮子
碗，著錄於1992年日本巡展《中國名陶展：中國陶磁2000年
の精華》圖錄，圖版70，頁78；此外尚可參考倫敦大英博物
館戴維德基金會舊藏一件白釉刻纏枝花卉紋碗，館藏編號：
PDF,A.412。私人收藏方面，香港長青館藏一件大小接近的永
樂甜白釉划花卉紋蓮子碗，見《長青館藏明清瓷、玉、角、
竹、畫琺瑯》，香港，2014年，圖版1。
來源
1. 費城 Henry Charles Lea（1825-1909年）收藏，或約1900
年得自寧波，此後由 Charles Matthew Lea（1853-1927年）
承繼，再傳予 Mary Mason Hudson，後入其承產收藏
2. 紐約蘇富比，2002年3月20日，編號181
3. 香港蘇富比，2019年4月3日，編號3305
4. 少雪齋，香港
HK$ 1,200,000 - 1,800,000
US$ 154,000 - 230,000
