Lot 3327. An imperial famille verte coral-ground 'floral' bowl, Kangxi yuzhi mark in underglaze blue within a double square and of the period (1662-1722). Estimate HK$2,000,000 - HK$3,000,000 ($258,674 - $388,011). Price Realized HK$2,440,000 ($315,485).Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016.

The bowl is richly decorated to the exterior with blue and yellow peony blossoms encircling the foot, below a variety of exotic blooms enamelled in aubergine, blue, yellow, iron-red and two shades of green, all against an even coral-red ground. The interior is covered with a transparent glaze. 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm.) diam., box

Provenance: Sold at Christie's Paris, 7 December 2007, lot 141

Notes: A Kangxi-marked bowl of this design in the Shanghai Museum is illustrated in An exhibition of Chinese ceramics from the Collection of the Shanghai Museum, Tokyo, 1984, p. 124, no. 92, and another from the Charles Russell and Paul Bernat Collections, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, by H. Moss, By Imperial Command, Hong Kong, 1976, pp. 81-2, pl. 74. Both show the imperial mark and several views of the flowers. Moss goes on to note that Kangxi bowls of this type bear yuzhi marks written in blue or pink enamel, apparently one of the few instances where the Jingdezhen potters received specific instructions as to the style of the underglaze-blue mark which was to appear on a group of pieces made to imperial order.