Page 61 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art February 2015 Knightsbridge

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161 *

A near pair of famille verte
tazzas

Kangxi
Each enamelled with a central medallion of
a basket of flowers beside books, framed
by a decorative diamond and cash border
enclosing small flowerheads, a band of
babao, and a further band of diamond pattern
enclosing green and aubergine flowerheads,
the reverse with floral sprays, the slender foot
with an iron-red key-fret border above the
lotus lappet band at the foot.
The largest: 22.5cm (8 7/8in) diam. (2).

£2,000 - 3,000
CNY19,000 - 28,000 HK$24,000 - 35,000

For a comparable famille verte tazza, Kangxi,
see Christie’s South Kensington, 23/08/11,
lot 52.

162 *

A large Chinese Imari ‘lighthouse’
coffee pot and cover
Circa 1725
Of typical conical shape, with bird spout
and elaborate shaped handle, painted in
underglaze blue and enamelled in iron red
and gilt with boughs of sprouting lilies, the
stepped foot with two iron red decorative
borders, the domed cover decorated en-suite.
36cm (14 1/8in) high (2).

£4,000 - 6,000
CNY38,000 - 57,000 HK$47,000 - 71,000

The distinctive form of the handle may be
loosely related to the handles found on the
original silver form that inspired this design.
However, D. S. Howard, in A Tale of Three
Cities (Sotheby’s 1997), fig. 152, where a
similar teapot is illustrated, suggests that it
could also represent the tail feathers of the
bird whose head constitutes the spout.

A similar teapot was sold, Christie’s New York,
26/01/2010, lot 36.
162

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