T12 A set of five “Bamboo sprout” tea bowls, Ming Dynasty

Description

Description:   Chinese porcelain squat bowls decorated with a bamboo sprout in underglaze blue. These bowls were exported in set of five for the Japanese tea ceremony. One of this set, which has a sticker of the dealer Marchant & Sons at the base, has a four characters inscription written in very free cursive script. It reads 风清白露. The first two characters means “clear wind” while the last two means “white dew”, which is one of the 24 solar terms in Chinese calendar (early September in western calendar), signaling the approach of Autumn. Then “Clear wind in the coming autumn” (See Notes below). The two characters that are on one of the other bowls read 清雅, “distinguished elegance”.

Dating:  17^th century, Ming dynasty.

Size:  14 cm diameter

Provenance:  Antiquarian market

References:

Notes: Some late Ming Dynasty plates, especially those decorated with a single leaf or bamboo shoot as in this case, bear short inscriptions or poems, almost always mentioning the arrival of autumn. This may be related to the looming sense of the imminent end of a dynasty. A possible reason why the inscription on our plate mentions “clear wind” could be to wish for the arrival of a new dynasty. Historically, the next Qing Dynasty.