Lot 2295. A rare gilt-ground famille rose millefleurs bowl, Qing dynasty, 18th-early 19th century, blue-enamelled caixiutang zhi hall mark; 4 in. (10 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 900,000 - HKD 1,200,000. Price realised HKD 3,390,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

The bowl is potted with rounded sides, exquisitely decorated to the exterior in bright enamels to render a dense pattern of floral sprays including peonies, lotus, hydrangea, chrysanthemum, pinks and daisies in rich tones of pink, yellow, blue and green, all against a gilt ground. The base bears a four-character hall mark, Caixiutang Zhi. 

Note: The blue-enamelled hall mark, Caixiu Tang is a dedication to the 'Hall of the Colourful and Beautiful'. The present millefleurs bowl with the additional gilt decoration is unique with the only comparable example in the Beijing Palace Museum, a large bowl bearing the Qingyi Tang hall mark, and is illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 208, no. 184, dating to the Jiaqing period. A similar bowl from the Robert Chang Collection of this millefleurs pattern bearing the Caixiu Tang mark but without the gilt background, dating to the Qianlong period, was included in An Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, 1993, and sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 October 2000, lot 811. 

Christie's. IMPERIAL SALE: IMPORTANT CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART. 29 May 2013. Convention Hall.