Lot 53. A peachbloom-glazed beehive waterpot, taibo zun, mark and period of Kangxi (1662-1722). Estimate HKD 70,000 — 90,000 (7,902 - 10,160 EUR). Lot Sold 875,000 HKD (98,780 EUR). Photo: Sotheby's.

the rounded sides contracting to a narrow waisted neck below a short lipped mouthrim, incised around the exterior with three medallions formed of the curled bodies of archaistic kui dragons, all beneath a rich crimson-red glaze characteristically mottled with shades of brighter pink and dots of emerald green imitating the skin of a ripening peach, the recessed base and interior left white, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark in three columns - 12.6 cm, 4 7/8  in.

Provenance: Bluett & Sons Ltd, London, 1964.
Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928-69), from 1964 (£435).

Note: Waterpots of this attractive glaze are found in important museums and private collections worldwide; see one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 142, pl. 125; another in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, published in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 206; a third from the Sir Percival David collection and now in the British Museum, London, published in Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Qing Monochrome Wares, London, 1989, pl. 580; and a further waterpot sold twice in these rooms, 4th May 1994, lot 86, and 8th April 2014, lot 3077.