Page 46 - Sotheby's May 10th 2017 London Important Chinese Art

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT ASIAN PRIVATE COLLECTION

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A PAIR OF FINE RUBY GROUND FAMILLE Exquisitely enamelled bowls with various colour grounds and
ROSE MEDALLION BOWLS medallions containing scenes such as owers, landscapes or
DAOGUANG SEAL MARKS AND PERIOD antiquities were pioneered by artists of the Qianlong period
and surged in popularity during the Daoguang reign. The
each nely potted, the rounded sides rising from a short sophistication of bowls of this type is achieved by the intricate
straight foot to a slightly everted rim, the exterior with four sgra ato ground to give an e ect of brocade framing the
circular medallions with alternating panels of Bo gu (Hundred roundels.
Antiques), divided by oral sprays on a ruby sgra ato ground,
the interior nely painted in underglaze-blue with four lanterns A closely related bowl is illustrated in The Complete Collection
around a central medallion, the base with a seal mark in of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné
underglaze blue Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong,
(2) 1999, pl. 216; and another from the Dr S.Y. Kwan collection
14.7 cm, 5¾ in. was included in the exhibition Joined Colors, Arthur M. Sackler
Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 1993, cat.
PROVENANCE no. 58, where Jan Stuart mentions that the lantern design is
a rebus for ‘good harvest’ (feng deng) and that these bowls
S. Marchant and Son, London (according to label). were commonly used during the Lantern Festival. See also a
bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, published
಴£ 50,000-70,000 in Suzanne Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New
HK$ 483,000-675,000 US$ 62,500-87,000 York, 1989, pl. 281; and two sold in our Hong Kong rooms, the

rst from the Edward T. Chow collection, 19th May 1981, lot
595, and the second from the Paul and Helen Bernat collection,
15th November 1988, lot 46, and 8th April 2007, lot 804.

S Marchant Son

44 SOTHEBY’S