A RARE RED LACQUER 'MONGOL HUNT' BOWL, ATTRIBUTED TO ZHOU ZHU China, 16^th-17^th century. The deep rounded sides rising from a short straight foot to an everted rim. Deeply carved with a continuous scene of four Mongolian hunters on horseback brandishing spears, one having just killed a wolf with his weapon, riding through a rocky landscape with grass and lingzhi as well as trees including paulownia, willow, and pine, against a floral diaper ground, the interior lacquered black.

Provenance: Captain W. F. Collins (1865-1948), Beijing. Bluett & Sons, London, 26 May 1926. The Parry Collection of Chinese Art, London, acquired from the above and thence by descent. The base with an old collector's label, '341', partly obscuring a label from Bluett & Sons below. A copy of the original typed, stamped, and signed invoice from Bluett & Sons, dated 26 May 1926, addressed to “E. A. Parry, Esq.”, dating the present lot to the Ming dynasty, accompanies this lot. Captain Collins (1865-1948), was Bluett's main supplier in China from February 1925 to January 1928. He also sold pieces to John Sparks and other dealers in London and Paris between the 1920s and 1940s. The Parry Collection was an important English private collection of Imperial enamel, lacquer, porcelain, and jades, started by Edward Arthur Parry (1879-1946), a barrister by trade, and his wife Angela Parry (née Scully, 1879-1977) from as early as 1919. The collection has passed down three generations of the Parry family, with many of the pieces having been acquired from the famous London dealers Spink and Bluett's.
Condition: Good condition with old wear, natural age cracks and few minuscule losses to the red lacquer, the black lacquer with several shallow losses to the rim and associated old minor touchups.

Weight: 119.0 g
Dimensions: Diameter 10.7 cm

With a finely carved hardwood stand dating to the Qing dynasty. (2)

Lacquer bowls depicting hunting are extremely rare. Although hunting was extolled by early Ming Emperors who had inherited the tradition from the Mongol Yuan as a sign of military prowess and state authority, by the mid and late Ming period it was seen by the literati as a distraction from grave matters of state. The role of hunting became a charged area of contestation, where Ming Emperors and senior court ministers staked claims about rulership, ruler-minister relations, and the role of the military in the polity. The heirless Zhengde Emperor (1505-1521) was particularly passionate about hunting, much to the consternation of his ministers, see D. M. Robinson, Martial Spectacles of the Ming Court, Cambridge MA, 2013, pp. 214-220.

Expert's note: Research conducted by Hugh M. Moss of the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat, concerning a red lacquer box and cover carved with a closely related scene of five Mongolian hunters (see Auction result comparison), has found that box “to be a lacquer version of inlaid wooden boxes decorated with a hunting scene and attributed to the 16th-century artist Zhou Zhu.” For this reason, we do attribute the present bowl, identical in quality to the aforementioned box, to Zhou Zhu as well.

Zhou Zhu is recorded in the writings of the Ming and Qing literati as having worked in Yangzhou in Jiangsu province during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor. He was famous for his perfection of the technique of inlaying a wide variety of precious stones and other materials onto wood and lacquer. What distinguishes Zhou's works from others is his use of a much broader range of material and the complexity of the inlay itself. By skillfully utilizing kaleidoscopic materials to depict extraordinarily vivid scenes adorning precious woods, Zhou pioneered a range of beautifully inlaid works of art distinctive for their three-dimensional quality with eye-catching effects. His work provided inspiration for numerous subsequent interpretations.

Literature comparison: Compare a hardstone-inlaid box and cover, attributed to Zhou Zhu and depicting a Mongolian hunting scene, dated by inscription to 1537, at Sotheby's Hong Kong in Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection - Scholarly Art on 7 October 2010, lot 2192. See also two related hardstone-inlaid zitan boxes and covers, early Qing dynasty, decorated with equestrian hunting figures, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn, Hong Kong, 2002, nos. 230-231. A similar hunting scene can be found on a two-colored lacquer tray in the Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya, illustrated in Karamono. Imported Lacquerwork - Chinese, Korean and Ryukyuan, Selections from the Tokugawa Art Museum, no. 2, Nagoya, 1997, pl. 95, attributed to the Yuan or Ming period.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 October 2010, lot 2213
Price: HKD 860,000 or approx. EUR 155,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A cinnabar lacquer box and cover attributed to Zhou Zhu Ming dynasty, 16th / 17th century
Expert remark: Compare the related Mongolian hunting scene, and also attributed to Zhou Zhu.



周柱風格罕見剔紅狩獵圖碗
中國，十六至十七世紀。剔紅碗撇口，直壁深腹，大氣端莊，通體髹紅漆。外壁錦地剔紅裝飾狩獵場景，山石松樹掩映。蒙古服飾人物騎於馬上手持兵器圍獵，為首之人立於馬上持戟殺狼，一人持鞭催馬。馬匹身姿矯健，四足騰空。獵手神情嚴肅，對獵物誌在必得。整器風格古樸雅緻，乃明代剔紅典雅之作。

來源：北京W. F. Collins (1865-1948) 上尉。倫敦Bluett & Sons 藝廊，1926年5月26日。倫敦Parry Collection中國藝術收藏，購於上述藝廊並保存至今。底部可見收藏老標籤“341”，Bluett & Sons 的標籤局部被遮蓋。隨附Bluett & Sons藝廊出具的蓋章發票副本，時間爲1926年5月26日，收件人地址爲 “E. A. Parry, Esq.”。發票上注明此拍品為明代。Collins上尉 1925 年 2 月至 1928 年 1 月期間曾是 Bluett 在中國的主要供應商。他還在 1920 年代至 1940 年代期間向 John Sparks 和倫敦以及巴黎的其他經銷商出售藝術品。Parry收藏是英國重要的御製琺瑯器、漆器、瓷器和玉器私人收藏。1919年，貿易法大律師Edward Arthur Parry（1879-1946) 和他的妻子Angela Parry（原姓 Scully，1879-1977) 開創了這個收藏。該收藏中的六件作品在國際中國藝術展覽會上展出，這個展覽會只選擇了世界上最好的藝術品。該收藏已經在Parry家族傳承了三代人，其中許多藏品都是從著名的倫敦經銷商 Spink & Bluett's 那裡購得。
品相：狀況良好，有舊磨損、自然老化裂縫，紅漆和黑漆的邊緣有幾處輕微的缺失，存在相關的輕微修補。

重量：119.0 克
尺寸：直徑10.7 厘米

清代硬木底座。 (2)

描繪狩獵場景的漆碗極為罕見。明初皇帝繼承了元代蒙古人的狩獵傳統並將其視爲軍事實力和國家權威的標誌。但到了明中後期，文人將狩獵視為國家政治的昏庸，因此出現了激烈的對抗，明朝皇帝和文人集團之間爭奪統治權。 無子嗣的正德皇帝 (1505-1521) 特別熱衷於狩獵，這令他的大臣們大為震驚，參見 D. M. Robinson，Martial Spectacles of the Ming Court，康橋，2013 年，第 214-220 頁。

水松石房主人 Hugh M. Moss 曾經在一個展覽裏展出過一個漆盒，漆盒上有與現拍品相似的狩獵場景 (見拍賣結果比較), 他認爲那個飾有狩獵場景鑲嵌木漆盒是十六世紀周柱的作品（原文“to be a lacquer version of inlaid wooden boxes decorated with a hunting scene and attributed to the 16th-century artist Zhou Zhu.” ）。

根據明清時期文字記載，周柱製百寶嵌，有嵌於硬木、嵌於漆器兩種，當時人稱“週制”。他能夠巧妙利用寶石與其他材料本身的特殊性，創作了很多生動的場面，他的技術被稱為“吳中絕技”，清代阮葵生《茶餘客話》記：“周柱治鑲嵌……名聞朝野，信今傳後無疑也。”

文獻比較: 比較一件鑲嵌硬石的蓋盒，傳周柱作品，描繪了蒙古人狩獵場景，1537年，見香港蘇富比Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection - Scholarly Art 2010年10月7日 lot 2192. ；另兩件清初紫檀鑲嵌石料的蓋盒，繪製狩獵場景，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：竹、木、牙、角雕刻》，香港2002年, 第230-231頁。一件相似場景的雙色漆盤見名古屋德川美術館目錄 Karamono. Imported Lacquerwork - Chinese, Korean and Ryukyan, Selections from the Tokugawa Art Museum, no. 2, Nagoya, 1997, pl. 95, 傳爲元明時期。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：相近
拍賣：香港蘇富比，2010年10月7日，lot 2213
價格：HKD 860,000（相當於今日EUR 155,000）
描述：明代嘉靖時期周柱款罕見剔紅狩獵蓋盒
專家評論：比較相近的蒙古人狩獵場景，亦為周柱款。