Lot 19. A rare and large blue and white qilin dish, Shunzhi period (1644-1661); 34.5cm (13 5/8in) diam. Sold for £12,112.50 (Estimate £8,000 - 12,000). © Bonhams 2001-2022

With deep rounded sides rising from a channelled foot ring, vividly painted in underglaze blue with an open-mouthed roaring scaly qilin prancing across a landscape of plantain and rockwork issuing foliage, the reverse decorated with flaming pearl and precious objects, the rim enamelled brown, the base recessed.

Provenance: Dr John Pullan (1915-1995)
Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1998.

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Spink and Son Ltd., Chinese Blue White Porcelain From the Pullan Collection, London, November 1998, pl.37.

Note: Dr John Pullan was born in Yorkshire and educated at Shrewsbury and Cambridge before entering the Medical School at St Thomas' Hospital in 1937. His collection of Chinese ceramics comprised over three hundred pieces, with the majority being blue and white, acquired mostly from the main dealers in London in the 1950s-1970s.

The auspicious qilin was particularly popular during the Shunzhi reign. Eva Strober noted the reason may be because the mythical beast was considered to only appear when foreshadowing the birth of a great sage. See, E.Strober, Symbols on Chinese Porcelain: 10,000 Times Happiness, Stuttgart, 2011, p.66.

See a similar blue and white dish with qilin, Shunzhi, in the Palace Museum, Beijing illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan Cang Qingdai Ciqi Leixuan Qing Shunzhi Kangxi Chao Qinghuaci, vol.I, Beijing, 2004, pl.20. Compare also with a similar blue and white dish with a qilin, Shunzhi, from the Butler Family collection, illustrated in Shunzhi Porcelain: Treasures from an Unknown Reign, Seattle and London, 2002, pp.108-109, no.13. A further example in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, is illustrated in Eastern Ceramics and Other Works of Art from the Collection of Gerald Reitlinger, Oxford, 1981, p.49, no.98.

See also a fine and large blue and white qilin dish, Shunzhi, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 19 March 2019, lot 312.

Bonhams. THE MARSH COLLECTION ART FOR THE LITERATI, 3 November 2022, London, New Bond Street