Lot 526. A pair of famille-rose 'Balsam Pear' bowls, Qianlong Seal Marks and Period (1736-1795). Diameter 4 3/8  in., 11.1 cm. Estimate: 60,000 — 80,000 USD. Lot sold 106,250 USD. © Sothebys

each delicately potted with the deep rounded sides rising from a short foot to a flared rim, the exterior finely enameled with leafy bamboo stalks and a butterfly fluttering over a branch of blossoming and fruiting kugua vines, the branch extending over the rim to the interior, issuing further clusters of foliage and fruit, the base inscribed with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue (2).

Provenance: S.M. Franck, London.
Collection of Mrs. H.D. Warren, 1911.
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1911-1969.
Waddington, Mclean & Co., Ltd, Toronto, 1970s (by repute).

Note: A pair of bowls of this type, from the Percival David Collection and now in the British Museum, London, is illustrated in Catalogue of Ch’ing Enamelled Wares, London, 1958, pl. 897; a bowl in the Musée Guimet, Paris, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 91; and another is published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics, vol. 2, Tokyo, 1980, pl. 660. A fine pair of bowls from the Alfred Beit Collection, sold in our London rooms, 6th November 2013, lot 78; another pair sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th October 2014, lot 3646; a single bowl of this type sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 27th May 2014, lot 724; another, from the Wen Tsan Yu Collection, sold at Christie's New York, 18th-19th September 2014, lot 959; and a third sold in these rooms, 21st March 2018, lot 543. See another pair, sold in these rooms, 12th September 2018, lot 148.

Pair of bowls with finger citron design, Qing dynasty, Qianlong mark and period, AD 1736–1795. Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue and fencai (powdered colours). Height: 6 cm, Diameter: 11,1 cm. On loan from Sir Percival David Foundation, PDF.897 & PDF.898. © 2019 Trustees of the British Museum.

From the Collection of Sir Alfred Beit (1903-1994). A pair of Famille-Rose ‘Balsam Pear’ Bowls, Qianlong Seal Marks and Period (1736-1795); 11.1cm., 4 3/8 in. Sold for 110,500 GBP at Sotheby's London, 6th November 2013, lot 78. Photo: Sotheby's. 

Cf. my post: Sotheby's to auction fine Chinese ceramics from The Alfred Beit Foundation in London

 A fine pair of famille-rose ‘Balsam Pear’ bowls, Seal Marks and Period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 10.8 cm., 4 1/4  in. Sold for 1,240,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th October 2014, lot 3646. Photo: Sotheby's. 

Cf. my post: A fine pair of famille-rose ‘Balsam Pear’ bowls, Seal Marks and Period of Qianlong

Mrs. H.D. Warren was a philanthropist who was active in the support of numerous charities in Toronto. In 1909, after her husband’s death, in addition to her numerous causes, she took over management of the his business, Dominion Tire and Rubber. For decades she served as a member of the Royal Ontario Museum board of directors and was one of its most ardent benefactors.