A fine and rare Yixing stoneware teapot and cover, Daoguang, Xingyouheng Tang seal mark, signed Ji'an. Photo Bonhams. 

Elegantly potted in compressed globular form rising from a recessed base to a short neck, set with a prominent 'C'-shaped handle opposite a delicate curved spout on the shoulders, the flattened circular cover surmounted by a globular knop, the exterior intricately decorated with a series of kaishu inscriptions on one side followed by the potter's signature and four-character zhuanshu seal mark, with further two-character zhuanshu oval seal mark inside the cover, another two-character zhuanshu square seal mark underneath the handle, the stoneware of a rich plum-brown colour, fitted box. 15cm wide. (2). Estimate HK$ 4 million - 4.5 million (€380,000 - 430,000)

Provenance: Chen Chang-Wei collection (1907-1997)

Qu Yingshao whose zi is Ziye, and whose haos include Yuehu, Qufu, Ji'an and Laoye was a well-known scholar and Yixing connoisseur during the Daoguang and Xianfeng eras. As a native of Shanghai, he moved in literary circles during the early nineteenth century and became known as a man of letters throughout the Jiangnan region. He was renowned for his extensive library and his collection of paintings, bronzes and seals. Qu had many friends in common with Chen Mansheng, another well-established but much senior painter and carver of his day. Qu followed the tradition of Chen Mansheng by engraving personal seals on the pots commissioned by him. The Ji'an seal mark featured on the current lot was one of the seals he used the most often. Others include Ziye and Hugong which are shown on lot 103 and lot 115 in this collection.

Xingyouheng Tang was the studio name of the Prince Ding, Dai Quan, the brother and the most trustworthy chancellor of the Daoguang Emperor. The present lot shows both the date 'Daoguang yiyou (1849) and the name 'Xingyouheng Tang zhuren zhi' or 'Made for the owner of Xingyouheng Tang', followed by a seal reading 'Dingjun qing shang' or 'For the appreciation of Prince Ding's Estate'. This indicates the teapot was specially commissioned and decorated by Qu Yingshao for Prince Ding and possibly made by Yang Pengnian, although the potter is not named. For a nearly identical teapot but with a slightly later dating of the renzi year of Xianfeng (1852) in the Beijing Palace Museum, which was also made for Prince Ding as a commission from Qu Yingshao (fig.1), see Geng Baochang, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Purple Sandy Ware, Shanghai, 2008, p.94, pl.70; see ibid., p.93, pl.69 and K.S.Lo,The Stonewares of Yixing - From the Ming period to the Present Day, Hong Kong, 1986, p.203, pl.124,124a for two other closely related teapots with enamelled design of plum blossom also made for Prince Ding.

Chen Chang-Wei (1907-1997) was formerly the General Manager of China Petroleum, and was later assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan, being posted to Thailand as the director of the Cultural Office for 11 years. Following his return to Taiwan, he has been a consultant at the National Palace Museum, and a researcher at the Museum of History in Taipei. 

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