Lot 12. The Au Bak Ling Collection. A rare pink-enamelled tea bowl, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 9.3 cm diam. Price realised HKD 4,410,000 (Estimate HKD 1,200,000-2,000,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024.

The tea bowl is finely and thinly potted of demi-hemispherical form supported on a tapered foot, covered with a fine intense rose-pink enamel of even colour in contrast to the white interior.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 16 May 1977, lot 155.

Note: Ruby-red enamel was originally developed in Europe, and can be seen on wares produced at Meissen and Sèvres, but Chinese craftsmen were able to make significant improvements: through the use of ground ruby glass, as well as reducing the proportion of colloidal gold and the amount of tin in the mixture, they created a more stable and even product which surpassed the European versions of this enamel.

Compare to a similar tea bowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong: Qing Porcelainfrom the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p.303, no. 132; a pair in the Capital Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Selection of porcelain collected in the Capital Museum, Beijing, 1991, no. 147; and one formerly in the Meiyintang Collection, however, decorated with fruits on the interior, sold at Guardian Beijing, 27 June 2022, lot 2815.

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