A rare pair of coral-ground bowls. Qianlong seal marks and of the period. Photo Bonhams

The interiors plain, the exterior reserved on a rich even opaque iron-red ground with alternate blossoming lotus in profile and large budding peony heads with the petals coiled, all linked by dense formal leafy scroll, wood stands. 12.8cm (5 1/8in) diam. (4). Sold for £127,250

Provenance: The Chang Collection, Chicago
Henry and Beatrice Goldschmit, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 13 November 1991, lot 28
S.Marchant and Son, London
The Rolf Heiniger Collection of Qing Imperial Wares, no.11
The Harriet Szechenyi Collection, Switzerland

Exhibited: S.Marchant and Son, Qing Mark and Period Monochrome and Two-Coloured Wares, London, June 1992, no.48

Bowls of this type have been widely published. See for example M.Medley, Illustrated Catalogue of Porcelains Decorated in Underglaze-blue and Copper-red, London, 1963, pl.94 for the example in the Percival David Foundation, London; and the one illustrated by U.Wiesner, Chinesisches Porzellan, Die Ohlmersche Sammlung, for the example in the Roemer Museum, Hildesheim.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, 10 Nov 2011, New Bond Street  www.bonhams.com