A CHINESE CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER 'BOYS' BOWL.

Ming Dynasty.

The deeply rounded body rising to a wide rim from a straight narrow foot, the body decorated with a continuous outdoor scene composed of nine boys divided into four groups, in the first a boy paddles in a pond picking lotus flowers whilst two other look on from a boat, this group is overlooked from a roofed veranda by two boys one holding a lotus flower, and beyond a hollow rocky outcrop are two further pairs of boys separated by a banana tree each holding a lotus flower spray, all below a key-fret border collaring the rim and above a key-fret border surrounding the foot, 10cm diameter.

Provenance: John Hilliard collection.

明 剔紅嬰戲圖紋盃

來源：約翰·西莉亞德收藏。

The motif of a boy carrying a lotus leaf on the present bowl represents fertility and dates back to the Song dynasty where they carried lotus leaves during the Qixi (Double Seven) festival. The ‘Hundred Boys’ (baizi) theme also originated in the Song Dynasty but experienced a popular revival in the decorative arts of the Ming dynasty.

The design of four groups of boys was first developed in the Yongle period, as seen in the blue and white porcelain in Chinese Porcelain. The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1987, cat no 15.

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