A fine incised white-glazed 'Lotus' stembowl, Incised seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795)
Lot 3064. A fine incised white-glazed 'Lotus' stembowl, Incised seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 14.7 cm., 5 3/4 in. Estimate 180,000 — 220,000 HKD. Lot sold 725,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's 2013
thinly potted, the wide flared bowl resting on a narrow hollow stem flaring toward the base, finely incised on the interior with six lotus blossoms wreathed by a continuous meandering foliate stem, encircling a central six-character seal mark enclosed within a double ring repeated at rim, the exterior walls similarly decorated with six large scrolling lotus, above a band of upright petal lappets on the underside and two further lotus flowers on the foot, all beneath a smooth transparent glaze slightly tinged with blue, the interior of the stem further glazed.
Provenance: Christie's London, 10th December 1979, lot 290.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 31st October 2004, lot 220.
Note: A Qianlong stembowl of this shape and incised design, one of a pair, is illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics from the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Genève, 1999, pl. 304; and another similar stembowl in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Special Exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1986, cat. no. 83. Compare also a stembowl formerly in the Toguri Museum, Tokyo, sold in our London rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 9.
Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. Hong Kong, 08 april 2013