Lot 12. The Au Bak Ling Collection. A pair of lemon-enamelled tea bowls, Yongzheng six-character marks in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 8.2 cm diam. (2). Price realised HKD 2,016,000 (Estimate HKD 2,000,000-3,000,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024.

Each tea bowl is delicately potted with rounded sides rising from a straight foot, covered to the exterior with a vibrant lemon yellow enamel, the interior and base left white.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 12 May 1976, lot 243.

Note: This ‘lemon-yellow’ enamel is a pastel tone mixed with white to achieve opaqueness. Its tone was derived from lead stannate (lead and tin), which was almost exclusively used for small cups and dishes.

Compare to a pair of lemon yellow enamelled tea bowls, also with Yongzheng six-character marks in underglaze blue within double circles, but slightly larger (9.2 cm. diam.), from the Wang Xing Lou Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2024, lot 2702; compare also a slightly smaller pair of Yongzheng lemon-yellow tea bowls (7.3 cm. diam.), formerly in the E. T. Hall Collection, sold at Christie’s London, 7 June 2004, lot 267.

Christie's. The Au Bak Ling Collection: The Inaugural Sale, Hong Kong, 26 September 2024