Lot 34. A blue and white ‘boys’ dish, Mark and period of Jiajing. Estimate 70,000 — 90,000 HKD (7,902 — 10,160 EUR). Lot Sold 275,000 HKD (31,045 EUR). Photo: Sotheby's.

with shallow rounded sides supported on a short tapered foot, the interior painted with a central medallion enclosing two boys at play in a terraced garden with pierced rocks and shrubs, the boys wearing loose fitting robes and elaborate hats, all within a double-line border repeated at the rim, the exterior similarly decorated with ten boys at play in a garden with trees and rocks, the base with a six-character reign mark within a double circle - 14.5 cm, 5 3/4  in.

Provenance: Collection of Edward T. Chow (1910-80), until 1967 (one of a pair). 
Christie's London, 27th November 1967, lot 47 (280 gns, one of a pair). 
Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1967 (280 gns, one of a pair).
Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928-69), from 1967 (280 gns, one of a pair).

Note: A Jiajing mark and period dish painted in underglaze blue with this charming design of two boys playing with costumes in a fenced garden, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), Shanghai, 2000, pl. 125; a single dish from the collections of Mrs Bruce, Swinburne Raynes and Colonel and Mrs Carson, was sold three times in our London rooms in 1956, 1967 and 8th June 1993, lot 50; another pair was sold at Christie’s London, 15th July 1981, lot 87; and a single dish at Christie’s New York, 23rd March 2012, lot 1982.

Sotheby's. The Pilkington Collection of Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 06 Apr 2016