Paire de bols couverts en porcelaine émaillée corail. Chine, Dynastie Qing, Marque et Époque Qianlong  (1736-1795), Poème daté 1776. Photo Sotheby's

le bol et son couvercle évoquant un chrysanthème épanoui, l'intérieur du couvercle inscrit d'un poème impérial à l'or daté de l'année Bingshen, correspondant à 1776, les deux recouverts d'une riche glaçure rouge corail imitant la laque, marque à quatre caractères en cachet à l'or à la base du bol et à la prise du couvercle ; restaurations aux deux couvercles .Quantity: 4 - bowl : 7 cm, 2 3/4 in. ; cover : 10 cm, 4 in. ESTIMATE 80,000-120,000 EUR

NOTE: A similar inscribed chrysanthemum dish and a similar tea-bowl with a cover are illustrated in The Complete Collection of treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, Lacquer wares of the Qing Dynasty, ill. 163, p. 214 as well as a bowl and cover in Ceramics Galleries of the Palace Museum, Part II, Forbidden City Publishing House, Beijing, 2008, p. 470. See also a chrysanthemum-shaped bowl with the same poem gilded on the interior at the Percival David Foundation, British Museum, included in the exhibition, For the Imperial Court, 1997, and illustrated by R. Scott in the Catalogue, n° 19, where the author translates the poem as follows:

It is made in the form of a fragrant chrysanthemum,

And yet it is even more delicate,

Drinking tea from it may be likened to sipping dew,

from a newly plucked blossom.

Imperially inscribed in the Spring of the Bingshen year of the Qianlong reign.

Compare with a similar imperially-inscribed chrysanthemum dish sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1st December 2010, lot 2824.

Sotheby's. Arts D'Asie. Paris |15Dec2011 www.sothebys.com