Lot 2802. A carved pale celadon-glazed ‘bats’ bowl, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 5 7/8 in. (15 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 600,000 - HKD 800,000. Price realised HKD 562,500 © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The finely potted bowl is crisply carved in shallow relief around the exterior with five bats, wufu, in different attitudes of flight, the details of their ribbed bodies and extending wings well defined, covered overall in a pale bluish-celadon glaze. 

Provenance: Frank Caro, successor to CT Loo, New York, 1960s

Exhibited: San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas, 1984-2017

Note: A Yongzheng bowl of this unusual design is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated by W. B. Honey, Ceramic Art of China and Other Countries of the Far East, London, 1945, pl. 118(a); another bowl is illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, pp. 202-203, no. 855; a pair included in the International Exhibition of Chinese Art, 1935-36, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1935-1936, is illustrated in the Catalogue, nos. 2223 and 2225; another single bowl from the Jingguantang collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3 November 1996, lot 568; and a further bowl sold at Christie’s New York, 4 November 2008, lot 190.

Bowl, porcelain with slip relief designs under a pale bluish glaze, China, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng mark and period (1723-1735). Height: 6 cm, Diameter: 14.9 cm. Given by Mrs. Julia C. Gulland, 588-1907 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

A fine and rare moulded clair-de-lune-glazed 'bats' bowl, underglaze-blue Yongzheng six-character mark within a double-circle and of the period (1723-35); 6 in. (15.2 cm) diam. Sold for GBP 27,500 at Christie’s New York, 4 November 2008, lot 190. © Christie's Images Ltd 2008

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics from The Dr. James D. Thornton Collection, 29 November 2017, Hong Kong