Page 12 - Collection of Maureen Pilkington Hong Kong April 2017
P. 12
MAUREEN PILKINGTON’S YELLOW PORCELAINS
REGINA KRAHL
Maureen Pilkington (1928-2011) – Lady Black after her Yellow-glazed porcelains, with and without decoration,
second marriage to Sir David Black – was the wife of the had of course always had a special standing in China
important collector of Chinese ceramics, Roger Pilkington among the imperial wares, since yellow was the Emperor’s
(1928-69), a scion of the family that owned the famous colour. They were produced throughout the imperial era,
glassmaking works in Lancashire. Roger Pilkington whenever imperial porcelains were commissioned by the
started collecting only around 1958 and continued until court. The six pieces in the present group range in date
his untimely death in 1969, assembling within only one from the Chenghua period (1465-87) to the Yongzheng
decade one of the finest collections of its type. The bulk reign (1723-35) and all bear the imperial reign mark. As was
of his collection has been sold in these rooms recently, already apparent with the majority of the collection, Roger
on 6th April 2016, to immense international acclaim. The Pilkington had a sharp eye for quality and picked from the
collection had mostly been assembled from the leading large quantity of material available when he collected, some
dealers at the time, Bluett & Sons in London, often bidding outstanding items, mostly already with notable provenance.
for him at Sotheby’s, and represented one of the last This is equally confirmed by these yellow pieces.
assemblages that documented the traditional British
interest in Chinese ceramics. They comprise an extremely rare monochrome dish of
Chenghua mark and period from the collection of H.R.N.
Although the driving force behind the assemblage of the Norton; an exceptionally fine blue-and-yellow ‘gardenia’
Pilkington collection was clearly Roger Pilkington, his dish of Hongzhi mark and period (1488-1505), a well-known
wife shared his interest and after her husband’s death type, but rarely seen in this quality, and given added lustre
gave permission for many items from the collection to be by having once belonged to perhaps the finest Western
published by Adrian Joseph (Ming Porcelains. Their Origins connoisseur of Chinese porcelain, Sir Percival David; a
and Development, London, 1971). Her particular fondness companion dish of Zhengde mark and period (1506-21)
appears, however, to have been reserved for Ming (1368- from the collection of R.H.R. Palmer and a green-and-yellow
1644) and Qing (1644-1911) imperial porcelains with yellow zhadou, also of the Zhengde reign, from the collection of
glazes. A group of six yellow pieces had been specially given Derek Ide, both of which are good representatives of the
to her by her husband. These are presented here, forming, mid-Ming range, in which the collection was particularly
as it were, an addendum to the Pilkington collection offered strong; a very rare blue-and-yellow ‘dragon’ dish of Jiajing
last year. mark and period (1522-66) from the collection of R.H.R.
Palmer; and finally, a most unusual green-and-yellow bowl
of Yongzheng mark and period with details picked out in
additional polychrome enamels.
10 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比
