A Turquoise-Ground Famille-Rose ‘Pomegranate Blossom’ Oval Dish, Daoguang Period, 1821-1850

Lot 3311. A Turquoise-Ground Famille-Rose ‘Pomegranate Blossom’ Oval Dish, Hao Ren Tang Mark, Daoguang Period (1821-1850). L 16.7cm H 9.8cm with stand. Estimate HKD 300,000 - 400,000 (USD 38,462 - 51,282). Sold Price: HKD 648,000 (USD 83,077). Copyright 2021 © Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited

A shallow basin with a central pomegranate blossom motif and a floral decorative rim painted on turquoise-glazed ground. The edge of the rim delicately lined with gold and the base inscribed with a four-character 'Haorantang zhi [made by Haorantang]' mark in iron-red glaze.

Provenance: 1. The Fonthill Heirlooms, no.452/7 (according to label)
2. Collection of Mr. Jacques Couque, Paris, France, 1988
3. Duchange family collection, Paris, France.

Note: The present famille-rose oval dish is extremely rare for its unusual combination with elegant proportions, delicate enamelling and the Haoran Tang mark.See a closely related one sold in Bonhams London, 19 June 2018, lot 268; compare a famille-rose pink-ground quatrefoil tray from the collection of James E. Breece III, sold at Christie's New York, on 18 September 2003, lot 380.

The Fonthill Heirlooms remains one of the most facinating groups of Imperial Qing porcelain and works of art formed by a European in the 19th Century. It was originally collected by Alfred Morrison, the London-based Member of Parliament, who was an active purchaser during the last decades of the 19th Century, when Chinese and Japanese art were both culturally very much at the forefront of aesthetic tastes as pioneered by artistic taste-formers like James Whistler and Oscar Wilde, and also available in rather larger quantities than previously. The Fonthill Heirlooms became particularly well-known because Alfred Morrison was apparently able to buy a substantial quantity of Chinese art from Lord Loch of Drylaw.