Lot 3669. A fine famille-rose 'peony' bowl, the bowl mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735), the enamels later added. Estimate 1,500,000 — 2,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 3,680,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby's.

with deep rounded sides resting on a short foot, the exterior later decorated in the famille-rose palette with branches extending in different directions issuing small pink floral buds and intertwined with long curling stems bearing large flowering blooms, including peonies detailed in shaded tones of pink and iron red, the dense petals further highlighted with pollen picked out with yellow-enamelled speckles, two small bees depicted flying nearby, the base inscribed with an underglaze-blue six-character reign mark within a double-circle; 14.2 cm, 5 1/2  in.

Provenance: Collection of K.L. Essayan.
Sotheby's London, 2nd March 1971, lot 196.
Sotheby's London, 14th December 1971, lot 173.
Christie's Hong Kong, 29th April 2002, lot 567.

Notes: This bowl belongs to a group of fine porcelain wares made during the Yongzheng Emperor’s reign and enamelled at a later stage with a motif inspired by Yongzheng palace bowls painted with three peonies. The pair to this bowl, also from the collection of K.L. Essayan, was sold in our London rooms, 2nd March 1971, lot 195, and again in these rooms, 29th November 1976, lot 626. See also a bowl of this type sold in our London rooms, 11th June 1996, lot 75; another sold at Christie’s London, 27th November 1967, lot 10, and again in our London rooms, 8th November 2006, lot 86; a slightly smaller pair sold at Christie’s New York, 3rd June 1993, lot 294; and a further example, with a more prominent lipped rim, sold at Christie’s New York, 23rd March 1995, lot 297.

Sotheby's, Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016