Christie's Hong Kong. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. 27 May 2008
A fine and rare pair of doucai bowls, Yongzheng six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1723-1735)
Lot 1768. A fine and rare pair of doucai bowls, Yongzheng six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1723-1735); 5 in. (12.8 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000. Price realised HKD 427,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2008.
Each bowl finely painted and enamelled to the exterior around the steep rounded sides with stylised shou characters and linked pendant arabesques suspended from an interlocking 'c'-scroll border around the rim, the scroll border repeated around the base supporting five bats detailed in iron-red, all between double lines, Japanese wood boxes.
Provenance: A Japanese private collection, acquired from E.T. Chow, Geneva.
Note: While this particular design appears to be quite rare on Yongzheng bowls, bowls with variations on the design have been published. Compare with a pair of Yongzheng bowls from the C.P. Lin collection with similar but slightly more simplified decorative elements included in the joint exhibition with the Percival David Foundation, Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration, London, 1992 and illustrated by R. Scott, Catalogue, p. 129, no. 144.
An identical pair of bowls sold at Sotheby's London, 13 July 2005, lot 259; a single bowl sold at Sotheby's London, 10 June 1997; and a Qianlong marked bowl with the same design sold at Christie's London, 5 December 1994, lot 100.