Lot 2093. A  pair of small iron-red-decorated bowls, Daoguang seal marks in iron red and of the period (1821-1850); 3 5/8 in. (9.3 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000. Price Realized USD 8,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2014. 

Each has rounded sides decorated on the exterior with five iron-red fish with black pupils, and one with gilt highlights, shown swimming below the gilded rim..

Provenance: The Weishaupt Collection of 19th and 20th Century Chinese Porcelain; Sotheby's Amsterdam, 16 October 1995, lot 41.

Literature: One: G. Avitabile, From the Dragon's Treasure, London, 1987, no. 73. 

Note: A Daoguang dish with iron-red mark and similar goldfish decoration is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Miscellaneous Enamelled Porcelains, Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, Shanghai, 2009, p. 47, no. 41. See, also, the similarly decorated Daoguang bowl and cover, with a wen fu ya wan mark, illustrated ibid., p. 44, no. 38.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 20 - 21 March 2014