A yellow-ground grisaille-decorated 'Dayazhai' bowl, Guangxu

Finely painted en grisaille with a bird perched on a wisteria branch with blossoming trellises above and extending around the exterior of the bowl, with roses blossoming below, the three-character 'dayazhai' mark and 'Tian Di Jia Chun' seal mark below the rim, all reserved on a yellow ground, the base with iron-red four-character Yong Qing Chang Chun mark.  12.6cm (5in) diam. Sold for £6,000

Provenance: H.R.N.Norton
Sotheby's London, purchased by Bluett and Sons, 30 July 1929 for £7.
Purchased by R.H.R.Palmer, 13 August 1929, for £10.
R.H.R.P. collection label no.216.

A related 'Dayazhai' bowl in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York is illustrated by S.G.Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1975, fig.48. Another very similar bowl from the Ronald W. Longsdorf Collection was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 December 2008, lot.2219.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, 14 May 2009. New Bond Street www.bonhams.com