each with steep rounded walls rising from a short spreading foot to a slightly flared rim, finely painted to the exterior with a pavilion nestled in a mountain ridge within a grove of trees, the blue-tinged mountains spotted with wutong, maple and pine trees over flowering plants, four pavilions nestled along the river bank, two boatmen plying the waters, the base inscribed with a six-character mark in iron red (2)

Exquisitely painted in soft yet vibrant enamels, bowls of this type are very rare and no other closely related example appears to have been published. The Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen were destroyed in 1855 during the Taiping Rebellion, and were not rebuilt until 1866, during the Xianfeng reign (1850-1961), allowing for a mere four years of activity. Porcelain ware from this reign is therefore relatively rare, and displays the aesthetic taste that prevailed both at court and among the literati and merchant classes, whom the commercial kilns traditionally catered to. It is in this period that skilled and highly educated porcelain artists began developing a new style of painting, later known as the qianjiang style. Headed by Cheng Men (1833-before 1908), who was active between the Xianfeng and Tongzhi (1862-1874) reigns, these artists emulated on porcelain the style of the Yuan dynasty painter Huang Gongwang (1269-1354). The influence of Huang's style is clearly displayed on these bowls through the rendering of distant peaks, and the use of vertical and horizontal texture strokes for trees and rocks.

A Xianfeng mark and period jardinière painted with brighter enamels displaying a similar rendering of distant mountains, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 220. See a similarly painted dish, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong exhibition Ch’ing Polychrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1977, cat. no. 112, that was sold at Christie’s London, 15th July 1981, lot 18. Compare also a dish painted with a similar landscape but with a Tongzhi mark and of the period, from the Yangzhitang Collection, included in the exhibition Imperial Porcelain of Late Qing, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1983, cat. no. 101, and sold at Christie’s Singapore, 30th March 1999, lot 297.

For an example of the qianjiang style, see a plaque and a vase attributed to Cheng Men, included in the exhibition Brush and Clay. Chinese Porcelain of the Early 20th Century, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. nos 1 and 2.