Lot 3054. A pair of famille-rose pink-ground bowls, Seal marks and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820); 18.2 cm., 7 1/8 in. Estimate 200,000 — 300,000 HKD. Lot Sold 1,240,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

each with steeply rounded sides rising from a straight foot to an everted rim, the exterior painted in bright enamels against a pink ground with pairs of confronting catfish alternating with large lotus blossoms issuing leafy tendrils, all between a band of ruyi heads around the rim and an upright stiff petal border above the foot, the interior with five outstretched bats surrounding a stylised iron-red shou character, the base inscribed in iron red with a six-character reign mark.

Provenance: Collection of Alfred Morrison (1821-1897), Fonthill House, Tisbury, Wiltshire, no. 296/11.
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Margadale of Islay, T.D.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 14th November 1983, lot 173.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th April 1997, lot 689.
Christie's Hong Kong 1st May 2000, lot 737.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 April 2014