An Yixing stoneware 'auspicious' 'stone-spoon' teapot and cover, Jiaqing-Daoguang, signed Yang Pengnian, incised by Qu Yingshao. Photo courtesy Bonhams.

Of a classical inverted conical shape raised on three flattened circular feet, the sloping shoulders flanked by a pointed spout and a right-angled 'V'-shaped handle at the opposing ends, the raised flattened cover set with a semi-circular looped knop, the exterior lightly carved in relief with leafy bamboo on one side, the other side with a series of incised kaishu inscriptions followed by the artist's name, the base impressed with a two-character zhuanshu seal mark within a double-gourd, with another two-character zhuanshu potter's seal mark under the handle, the stoneware of a dark brown colour with fine golden speckles. 14.8cm wide. (2). Estimate HK$ 900,000 - 1.2 million (€86,000 - 110,000)

It is extremely rare to see the double-gourd seal mark on the bottom of the teapot which reads 'Ji hu', or 'auspicious teapot' on teapots made by Yang Pengnian. Compare another very similar teapot made by Yang Pengnian, incised by Qu Yingshao, also incised with bamboo and engraved with the same double-gourd seal mark from the collection of Tang Yun (fig.1), illustrated by Tang Yun, Zisha hu jianshang, Hong Kong, 1993, p.59, and another similar one but incised with prunus blossoms made specially under the commission by Qiao Zhongxi, a contemporary scholar of Chen Mansheng, formerly in the Bi Shan Tang Collection (fig.2), illustrated by Li Jingkang and Zhang Hong, Yangxian shahu tukao (A Pictorial Study of Yangxian Pottery Teapots), vol.1, 1937, p.38. For examples of similar teapots made by Yang Pengnian and Qu Yingshao, but with purple-coloured clay in the Shanghai Museum and The Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, see Han Qilou and Xia Junwei, Zhongguo zisha minghu zhenshang, Shanghai, 2001, p.102, pl.140; and Hong Kong Museum of Art ed., Yixing Purple Clay Wares - The K.S.Lo Collection, Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, p.102, pl.57. For further information about Qu Yingshao, see lot 116.

Bonhams. MASTERPIECES OF YIXING STONEWARE FROM THE MR AND MRS JIMMY SHA COLLECTION. Hong Kong. 24 Nov 2013 13:30 CST