Lot 47: FIVE THAI-MARKET GRADUATED BENCHARONG COVERED JARS WITH NORASINGH FIGURES, TOH 19th century

FIVE THAI-MARKET GRADUATED BENCHARONG COVERED JARS WITH NORASINGH FIGURES,
TOH

19th century

Comprising four jars of deep bowl form with almost-vertical sides and with domed and stepped covers, each painted in polychrome enamels with
Thepanom figures in cartouches alternating with
Norasingh figures against a deep-blue ground with flame-like
kranok leaf motifs, two bands of flower and scroll pattern around the neck and the short circular foot, the domed covers with a flat disc knop and a lotus-bud finial and similarly decorated; and a globular jar and domed cover similarly decorated. (5)


deep bowls and covers: 8in (20.3cm) to 3 3/4in (19.5cm) high overall
globular jar and cover: 3 5/8in (9.2cm) high overall

Bowls and covers Cracks to all four bowls and two covers. Some additional nibbles, small chips and surface wear.


Globular jar and cover Chips to the rim and foot of jar. Chips to the cover and a short adjacent crack. Nibbles.

十九世紀 宾乍隆護法神紋蓋碗五件



Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價




Provenance:

Theodor Ring, Oslo (formerly Kristiania), Norway

Avery Fund, 1909

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1909-present




來源：

挪威奧斯陸（舊稱克里斯蒂安尼亞）Theodor Ring 舊藏

Avery 基金，1909 年

大都會藝術博物館，1909 年迄今



For a bowl and cover of identical type with deep blue-black ground and donated by George Eumorfopoulos to the Benaki Museum in 1929-30, see George Manginis,
China Rediscovered, The Benaki Museum Collection of Chinese Ceramics, Athens/London, 2016, pp.22-23, no. 01. The author notes that the so-called 'Bencharong' ware was made in Jingdezhen originally for the Royal Siam court (present-day Thailand) and its use was later extended to Siamese court officials and wealthy merchants. Bencharong can be translated as 'five-colored', though the colors were usually more numerous.



See
The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2003, pp.142-143, for a variety of similar examples.



For further reading, see Dawn F. Rooney,
Bencharong, Chinese Porcelain for Siam, Bangkok, 2017. In this fascinating and insightful publication, the author covers many areas of the ceramic production, decoration, function and the history of the trade between China and Siam. To paraphrase, she notes that the wares are easily identifiable because of the brilliant colors over a glazed white porcelain; the decoration covering the entire surface, with no space untouched; subjects of mythical creatures of Buddhist and Hindu lore surrounded by verdant tropical vegetation; geometric floral units; and often gilt highlights.

This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ¤