Page 60 - Fine Imperial Porcelain at Sothebys Hong Kong April 3 2019

This elegant bowl is particularly notable for its exquisitely
painted floral scroll in soft pastel enamels. Cobalt pencilled
lines are painted with great precision and the overglaze
enamels are carefully shaded in graduating tones. The
doucai palette, which was originally developed in the
Chenghua reign, gained popularity in the Yongzheng period
as it was ideally suited to the Emperor’s taste for delicate
and unassuming porcelains. Although this bowl does not
closely follow a specific prototype, it nevertheless takes
inspiration from the Chenghua period both through the
choice of palette and the delicate painting style.
Bowls of this type are unusual, although a closely related
pair from the collection of Paul and Helen Bernat, was
sold in these rooms, 15th November 1988, lot 15; another
pair was sold in our London rooms, 6th July 1971, lot 241;
and a further bowl, also from the collection of The Hon.
Mountstuart William Elphinstone, was sold at Christie’s
London, 15th June 1998, lot 162.
Compare also Yongzheng mark and period bowls similarly
painted with a composite floral scroll, but with a classic-
scroll band at the rim, such as another pair from the Paul
and Helen Bernat collection, sold in these rooms, 15th
November 1988, lot 14; one from the Goldschmidt collection,
sold twice in these rooms, 8th November 1982, lot 207, and
13th November 1990, lot 32; and a third from the collection
of George S. Palmer, sold in our New York rooms, 13th March
1975, lot 455.
This bowl once belonged to the Hon. Mountstuart William
Elphinstone (1871-1957), the brother of the 16th Lord
Elphinstone and a passionate collector of Chinese porcelain.
He was Private Secretary in the War Office between 1914
and 1919, and was Hon. Secretary between 1934 and 1944,
during the Second World War. A client of Bluett’s and
Sparks, a friend of Sir Percival David, and a member of the
Oriental Ceramic Society since 1929, he was one of the
most far-sighted collectors of his time and one-time owner
of one of the ‘David Vases’. Several pieces in his collection
were donated to the Sir Percival David Foundation in 1952,
now in the British Museum, London, including 150 pieces of
monochrome porcelain, while others were destroyed during
the Second World War.

58 SOTHEBY ’S FINE IMPERIAL PORCELAIN