Alain.R.Truong

A fine Ru-type octagonal vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795)

Alain Truong — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 20:01:15 GMT

Lot 3119. A Ru-type octagonal vase, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 33.3 cm, 13 1/8 in. Estimate 350,000 — 450,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,000,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's

of facetted octagonal baluster form, the gently tapered body rising from a short splayed foot to a broad shoulder surmounted by a waisted neck, covered overall in a thick luminous greyish-blue glaze densely suffused with fine crackles, the foot rim applied with a brown dressing, the base with an underglaze-blue six-character seal mark, wood stand.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection.
Christie's Hong Kong, 30th May 2005, lot 1487.

Note: Deceptively simple in form and design, this vase contrasts markedly with the richly ornamented decorative style that is generally associated with the Qianlong period, and is a fine example of the skill of the potters in Jingdezhen in creating a subtle and smooth glaze in imitation of Ru ware, one of the ‘five great wares’ of the Song period. This vase thus reflects the Qianlong Emperor’s penchant for these early wares, which he not only collected but also commissioned the imperial kilns to recreate or imitate.

A closely related vase from the collection of Hirota Matsushige, in the Tokyo National Museum, is published in Illustrated Catalogue of Tokyo National Museum, Chinese Ceramics II, Tokyo, 1990, pl. 721; three were sold in these rooms, the first, 2nd May 2005, lot 693, and again, 5th October 2011, lot 1989, the second, 19th May 1982, lot 274, and the third, 23rd October 2005, lot 321, and sold again in our New York rooms, 16th September 2009, lot 215; another vase was sold in our London rooms, 8th November 2006, lot 75; and a further example was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31st May 2010, lot 2013.

This type of vases continued to be made in the subsequent reigns; see a Daoguang mark and period example, included in the exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the Qing dynasty], National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 98.

Sotheby's. Marchant – Fifty Qing Imperial Porcelains, Hong Kong, 11 July 2020

A peachbloom-glazed brush washer, tangluo xi, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1662-1722)

Alain Truong — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 15:50:34 GMT

Lot 24. A peachbloom-glazed brush washer, tangluo xi, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1662-1722); 47⁄8 in. (12.4 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000 (EUR 17,846 - EUR 26,769). Price realised USD 37,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The compressed globular body is covered on the exterior with a glaze of soft rose color suffused with pale green speckles and thins to a pale pink tone on one side of the body. The interior and base are white.

Provenance: Dudley Leavitt Pickman (1850-1938) Collection, Boston.
Dudley Leavitt Pickman Jr. (1885-1964) Collection, Boston.
Edward Motley Pickman (1886-1959) Collection, Boston, and thence by descent within the family.

Note: The present washer belongs to a group of vessels covered in a peachbloom glaze, often referred to as the ba da ma or “The Eight Great Numbers”, made for the scholar’s desk during the Kangxi period, which include washers such as the present example. A set of eight peachbloom-glazed vessels representing these shapes in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated by S. Valenstein in A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, p. 237.

This type of brush washer is described as being of ‘gong’ shape, or tangluo xi (washer of gong form), as it has a very compressed body. Other Kangxi peachbloom brush washers include one illustrated by S. Jenyns in Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1904, pl. 7, fig. 1; by M. Beurdeley and G. Raindre, Qing Porcelain, Fribourg, 1986, pl. 98; by J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. III, Geneva, 1972, nos. A 306 and A 309; in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 15, Tokyo, 1983, p. 34, no. 27; and another is listed in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ch’ing Monochrome in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1973, no. B 582 (not illustrated). A further Kangxi peachbloom brush washer was included in the 1978 Hong Kong Museum of Art exhibition, Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T. Y. Chao Family Foundation, no. 53.

For three examples sold at auction, see the Kangxi peachbloom washer from the Edward T. Chow Collection sold at Christie’s New York, 19 March 2008, lot 636; the brush washer sold at Christie’s New York, Collected in America: Chinese Ceramics from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Christie’s New York, 15 September 2016, lot 914, which was formerly in the Mary Stillman Harkness (1874-1952) Collection; and the brush washer sold at Christie’s New York, Chinese Art from The Art Institute of Chicago, 12 September 2019, lot 726, which was formerly in the Kate Sturges Buckingham (1858-1937) Collection.

Christie's. Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Online, 7 - 24 July 2020

Blue and white porcelains from the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine sold at Christie's, 7 - 24 July 2020

Alain Truong — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 08:56:00 GMT

Lot 6. A small blue and white ovoid 'dragon and phoenix' jar, Wanli six-character mark within a double circle and of the period (1573-1619); 51⁄4 in. (13.3 cm.) high. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000 (EUR 8,923 - EUR 13,384.50). Price realised USD 16,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The sides are decorated with two five-clawed dragons pursuing flaming pearls alternating with two phoenixes, all amidst foliate scroll between a band of 'The Three Friends of Winter' on the shoulder and ribbon-tied 'precious objects' above the foot.

Provenance: Professor Emil Balla (1885-1956) Collection, Marburg, Germany.
Private collection, Pennsylvania.
Christie's New York, 21 March 2002, lot 171.
J.J. Lally & Co. , New York, no.1563 (according to label).

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Exhibited: Temporary loan: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1955.

Lot 8. A large blue and white jar, late Ming dynasty, early 17th century; 151⁄2 in. (39.3 cm.) high. Estimate USD 12,000 - USD 18,000 (EUR 10,707.60 - EUR 16,061.40). Price realised USD 13,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The bulbous body is decorated with four shaped panels enclosing scenes of scholars in a landscape and connected by rectangular landscape panels, all on a ground of leafy flower scroll.

Provenance: The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Literature: The Chinese Porcelain Company, Chinese Export Art including Figures from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gill, New York, 2002, p.13, no. 2.

Exhibited: New York, The Chinese Porcelain Company, Chinese Export Art including Figures from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gill, 10-26 October 2002.

Lot 9. A rare blue and white ovoid jar, Chongzhen period (1628-1644); 9 in. (22.8 cm.) high. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000 (EUR 7,138.40 - EUR 10,707.60). Price realised USD 30,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The sides are decorated with a fishbowl filled with carp, flower-filled vases and jardinières below a stylized lotus band encircling the neck.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Lot 10. A rare large blue and white ovoid jar and cover, Chongzhen period (1628-1644); 12 7⁄8 in. (32.7 cm.) high. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000 (EUR 17,846 - EUR 26,769). Price realised USD 60,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The sides are decorated with a continuous scene of a procession of scholars crossing a bridge to present themselves at the Guanhan Palace of Chang E, the moon goddess, all between incised borders. The cover is decorated with a scene of scholars.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Literature: S. Little, Chinese Ceramics of the Transitional Period: 1620-1683, New York, 1983, pp. 58-59, no. 17.
J.B. Curtis, Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth Century, Landscapes, Scholar’s Motifs and Narratives, New York, 1995, pp. 112-113, no. 42.

Exhibited: New York, China House Gallery, China Institute in America, Chinese Ceramics of the Transitional Period: 1620-1683, 1983-1984.
New York, China Institute Gallery, China Institute in America, Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth Century, Landscapes, Scholar’s Motifs and Narratives, 22 April – 5 August 1995, no. 42.

Note: There are many versions of the story of how Chang-E, the moon goddess, came to live on the moon, but all the stories involve her husband, the archer Yi, who saved the earth by shooting down the additional suns that were burning it up, and from whom some stories say she stole the elixir of immortality. She was believed to live on the moon with a white hare, which pounded the elixir of immortality with a pestle and mortar, and with the woodcutter Wu Gang, who was condemned to stay on the moon until he could chop down a magically regenerating osmanthus tree. The small hare is seen on the present jar to the right of the head of the attendant to the furthest right.

The specific scene depicted on the jar originates from a dream of the Tang-dynasty Emperor Xuanzong, who reigned from AD 713 to 756. In his dream, Emperor Xuanzong followed the sound of the flute from the Moon Palace, and wandered over a bridge. He then encountered Chang-E, whom he thought was the most beautiful lady, dressed in an exquisite flowing robe. When he woke up from the dream, he composed a song based on the melody of the flute he had heard, which he titled Ni Shang Yu Yi Qu (The Song of Feather-Decorated Robe). A fan painting by the Southern-Song painter, Zhou Chen, depicting the same scene and with a similar composition, is now in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing. (https://www.dpm.org.cn/collection/paint/234090.html)

In the exhibition catalogue from the China Institute exhibition cited above, it is noted that this jar is one of the largest known examples of this shape of covered jar (p. 58). The author also notes that Chang-E is shown holding a branch of the cassia tree (gui), which “blooms in autumn at the time when the official civil service examinations were held and is consequently a symbol of success.”

Lot 11. A blue and white bottle vase, Chongzhen period (1628-1644); 14 1⁄8 in. (35.9 cm.) high. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000 (EUR 7,138.40 - EUR 10,707.60). Price realised USD 25,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The body is decorated with a scene of two warriors and two courtiers in a landscape, all below Dutch-style leafy flower stems on the tall, flaring neck.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Lot 12. A small blue and white ovoid jar and cover, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 7 7⁄8 in. (20 cm.) high. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000 (EUR 5,353.80 - EUR 7,138.40). Price realised USD 7,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The jar is decorated with a scene of a scholar in a pavilion set in a landscape and the cover with a further landscape.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Lot 13. A small underglaze blue and copper-red-decorated 'garlic-head' vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 7 7⁄8 in. (20 cm.) high. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000 (EUR 5,353.80 - EUR 7,138.40). Price realised USD 20,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The body is decorated with a single dragon encircling the neck and the base with an apocryphal Chenghua mark.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Provenance: Roger Keverne Ltd., London.

Literature: R. Keverne, Fine and Rare Chinese Works of Art and Ceramics, Winter Exhibition, London, 2002, p. 60, no. 64.

Exhibited: London, Roger Keverne Ltd, Fine and Rare Chinese Works of Art and Ceramics, Winter Exhibition, November 2002.

Lot 14. A small blue and white conical bowl, 17th century; 41⁄2 in. (11.4 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 4,000 - USD 6,000 (EUR 3,569.20 - EUR 5,353.80). Price realised USD 5,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The exterior is delicately decorated in pale shades of underglaze blue with four lotus plants rising from waves and the center of the interior with a small roundel of waves. The base has an apocryphal Xuande mark.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Lot 17. A small blue and white rouleau vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 105⁄8 in. (27 cm.) high. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000 (EUR 7,138.40 - EUR 10,707.60). Price realised USD 8,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The body is decorated on one side with a Buddhist lion standing on a rock amidst crashing waves within a panel and the opposite side with 'antiques'.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Lot 18. A large blue and white bottle vase, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 18 in. (45.7 cm.) high. Estimate USD 12,000 - USD 18,000 (EUR 10,707.60 - EUR 16,061.40). Price realised USD 13,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The vase is decorated with an overall design of dense peony scroll separated by decorative bands on the foot, shoulder and below the mouth. The base has an apocryphal Xuande mark.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Lot 19. A blue and white bowl, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722); 73⁄4 in. (19.7 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 7,000 - USD 10,000 (EUR 6,246.10 - EUR 8,923). Price realised USD 11,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The exterior is decorated with four-figural scenes below a diaper border on the underside of the flared rim, and the center of the interior with a roundel of five boys holding lotus stems.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Provenance: Raymond F. A. Riesco (1877-1964) Collection, England, no. 345.

Lot 20. A blue and white bowl, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 73⁄4 in. (19.7 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 4,000 - USD 6,000 (EUR 3,569.20 - EUR 5,353.80). Price realised USD 3,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The bowl has deep sides that flare towards the rim and are decorated with a continuous scene of two scholars on a bridge in a landscape.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Lot 22. A blue and white bowl, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722); 81⁄2 in. (21.6 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 7,000 - USD 10,000 (EUR 6,246.10 - EUR 8,923). Price realised USD 17,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The exterior is decorated with four figural panels enclosing scenes of scholars and ladies in interior settings, and the center of the interior with a roundel depicting three boys at play.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Provenance: The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York.

Christie's. Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Online, 7 - 24 July 2020

http://www.alaintruong.com/archives/2020/07/26/38449186.html

A fine blue-glazed bowl, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795)

Alain Truong — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 08:38:11 GMT

Lot 3118. A fine blue-glazed bowl, 180,000 — 250,000Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 17.8 cm, 7 in. Estimate 400,000 — 600,000 HKD. Lot sold 350,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's

elegantly potted with deep rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered foot to a gently flared rim, applied overall with an unctuous luminous blue glaze stopping neatly at the rim and foot, the white base inscribed with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue.

Provenance: Frank Caro Co., New York, prior to 1990.
Collection of Mr and Mrs Herman E. Cooper, New York, 5th July 1990.

Note: A closely related bowl in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the Qing dynasty], Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 46.

Sotheby's. Marchant – Fifty Qing Imperial Porcelains, Hong Kong, 11 July 2020

A fine Famille-Rose 'Balsam Pear' bowl, Seal Mark and Period of Qianlong (1736-1795)

Alain Truong — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 08:20:26 GMT

Lot 3117. A fine Famille-Rose 'Balsam Pear' bowl, Seal Mark and Period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 11.2 cm, 4 1/2 in . Estimate 400,000 — 600,000 HKD. Lot sold 500,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's

the with deep rounded sides rising from a straight foot to an everted rim, finely enamelled with a balsam pear vine twisting around the exterior suspending ripe fruit bursting with seeds and issuing verdant leaves and pale yellow blossoms, bamboo shoots rising to one side of the vine and a butterfly fluttering nearby, the motif repeated on the interior, the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue.

Provenance: Collection of Malcolm Mackintosh, and thence by descent.

Note: A pair of bowls of this type, from the Sir 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 published in Oriental Ceramics. The World Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 91; another is published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics, vol. 2, Tokyo, 1980, pl. 660; and a further pair of bowls, from the Alfred Beit Foundation, was sold in our London rooms, 6th November 2013, lot 78.

Malcolm Mackintosh worked for Butterfield and Swire in China and returned to the UK circa 1932.

Sotheby's. Marchant – Fifty Qing Imperial Porcelains, Hong Kong, 11 July 2020

A rare teadust-glazed narcissus bowl, Seal mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735)

Alain Truong — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 07:57:33 GMT

Lot 3116. A rare teadust-glazed narcissus bowl, Seal mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 20.3 cm, 8 in . Estimate 1,200,000 — 1,800,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,500,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's

the shallow bowl superbly potted with fluted and lobed sides rising from three ruyi-head bracket feet to an everted, barbed rim formed by six large petals divided into twelve fluted leaves, covered overall in a rich teadust glaze deliberately thinning to iron-rust brown at the raised areas, the base carved with a four-character seal mark.

Provenance: Collection of Samuel T. Peters (1854-1921).
Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 15th October 1943, lot 143.
Collection of the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, New York.
Christie's New York, 14th/15th September 2017, lot 1233.

Exhibited: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, prior to 1943.

Note: Understated in form and glaze, this narcissus bowl is extremely rare for its glaze, and only one smaller teadust-glazed vessel of this form appears to have been published, from the collection of Stephen Junkunc III, inscribed with a rare four-character Yongzheng mark on the base, sold at Christie's New York, 21st September 1995, lot 251.

Inspired by early-Ming mould-made flower vessels produced in Yuzhou, Henan province, an area formerly known as Junzhou, the present flower vessel is closely related to a piece from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, but covered in a purple glaze imitating Jun wares, also with a Yongzheng reign mark and of the period, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 178, and also included in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], vol. 14, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 232. Another similar Yongzheng Jun-type narcissus bowl in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the Qing dynasty], Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 84; and a further example is published in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, Geneva. Chinese Ceramics, vol. 3, Geneva, 1972, pl. A355.

Compare also a larger Yongzheng narcissus bowl covered in a dark-brown glaze to imitate bronze, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 25th October 1993, lot 803, and again in our New York rooms, 18th March 2008, lot 115; a related Jun-type glazed example sold in these rooms, 14th November 1989, lot 190; and a lilac-glazed example sold in our London rooms, 7th June 1988, lot 341.

Sotheby's. Marchant – Fifty Qing Imperial Porcelains, Hong Kong, 11 July 2020

Ceramics from the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine at Christie's, 7 - 24 July 2020

Alain Truong — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 17:17:00 GMT

Lot 1. A purple-splashed Jun deep bowl, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 43⁄8 in. (11.1 cm.) high. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000 (EUR 5,353.80 - EUR 7,138.40). Price realised USD 11,875. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The deep, rounded sides are covered inside and out with a thick glaze of milky blue tone decorated on the exterior with three purple splashes suffused with copper-green spots, the glaze stopping above the foot on the exterior and above the center on the interior.

Provenance: Samuel T. Peters (1854-1921) Collection.
Louisine Peters Weekes Tcherepnine (1886-1952).
Adaline Hathaway Weekes Scully (1915-1984) and thence by descent.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Note: The following group of Jun wares (lots 1-5), as well as the upcoming peachbloom-glaze vase (lot 23), came by descent to Peter Tcherepnine from the renowned collection of Samuel T. Peters (1854-1921). A director of several coal companies and a trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1914 to 1921, Peters was known as a great collector and amassed an impressive and large collection of Chinese works of art. In his obituary the New York Times noted that Peters’ gift of some 400 jades to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1912 and 1916 “form a collection probably unsurpassed anywhere.”

Peters was also known as a great admirer of Chinese pottery, Song-dynasty wares, and porcelains. His wife, née Adeline Elder (1859-1943), donated hundreds of pieces from his collection to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1926. This gift seems to have been preceded by a loan that was recorded in The Metropolitan Museum of Art ’s February 1927 Bulletin, Vol, 22, pp. 44-47, under the title “An Important Loan of Early Chinese Pottery,” where it was noted that The Met had tried for years to form a representative collection of Song-pottery wares, without success. The author goes on to state (p. 46) that with the addition of the Peters’ loan, the new and aspiring collector can “study the different glazes, the marvelous Sung shapes, and the many varieties as in no other public collection. This happy change has come about through the generous loan by Mrs. Peters from the collection made by her late husband Samuel T. Peters, once a trustee of our Museum and one of the first collectors in this country to recognize the beauty and interest of early Chinese ceramics."

Lot 2. A rare purple-splashed Jun bowl, Northern Song dynasty (960-1279); 51⁄2 in. (14 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 25,000 (EUR 13,384.50 - EUR 22,307.50). Price realised USD 187,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The bowl is delicately potted with rounded sides, and covered inside and out with a lavender-blue glaze, with areas of purple splashes on the exterior and interior, which thins to mushroom on the rim and falls in an irregular line above the neatly cut foot. The base is partially glazed.

Provenance: Samuel T. Peters (1854-1921) Collection, no. 171.
Louisine Peters Weekes Tcherepnine (1886-1952).
Adaline Hathaway Weekes Scully (1915-1984) and thence by descent.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Lot 3. A large Jun bowl, Jin dynasty (1115-1234); 83⁄4 in. (22.2 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 7,000 - USD 9,000 (EUR 6,246.10 - EUR 8,030.70). Price realised USD 13,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The bowl of deep, rounded form is covered inside and out with a glaze of pale milky blue color which thins to mushroom on the rim.

Provenance: Samuel T. Peters (1854-1921) Collection, no. 150.
Louisine Peters Weekes Tcherepnine (1886-1952).
Adaline Hathaway Weekes Scully (1915-1984) and thence by descent.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Lot 4. A purple-splashed Jun bowl, Jin-Yuan dynasty (1115-1368); 77⁄8 in. (20 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 3,000 - USD 5,000 (EUR 2,676.90 - EUR 4,461.50). Price realised USD 4,375. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The bowl is of deep, rounded form, and is covered inside and out with a glaze of pale milky blue thinning to a mushroom color, and with a purple splash on the interior.

Provenance: Samuel T. Peters (1854-1921) Collection, no. 521.
Louisine Peters Weekes Tcherepnine (1886-1952).
Adaline Hathaway Weekes Scully (1915-1984) and thence by descent.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Lot 23. A peachbloom-glazed vase, liuye zun, Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue and probably of the period (1662-1722); 5 in. (12.7 cm.) high. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000 (EUR 5,353.80 - EUR 7,138.40). Price realised USD 21,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.

The elegant, tapering, high-shouldered body is covered in a glaze of crushed-strawberry-red color shading to paler areas with some moss-green mottling. The gilt mount at the mouth is stamped 'TIFFANY & CO. 18KT.', brass stand.

Provenance: Samuel T. Peters (1854-1921) Collection.
Louisine Peters Weekes Tcherepnine (1886-1952).
Adaline Hathaway Weekes Scully (1915-1984) and thence by descent.

Property of the Collection of Peter Tcherepnine.

Note: This peachbloom-glazed vase, as well as the group of Jun wares at the beginning of the sale (lots 1-5) came by descent to Peter Tcherepnine from the renowned collection of Samuel T. Peters (1854-1921). A director of several coal companies and a trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1914 to 1921, Peters was known as a great collector and amassed an impressive and large collection of Chinese works of art. In his obituary the New York Times noted that Peters’ gift of some 400 jades to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1912 and 1916 “form a collection probably unsurpassed anywhere.”

Peters was also known as a great admirer of Chinese pottery, Song-dynasty wares, and porcelains. His wife, née Adeline Elder (1859-1943), donated hundreds of pieces from his collection to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1926. This gift seems to have been preceded by a loan that was recorded in The Metropolitan Museum of Art ’s February 1927 Bulletin, Vol, 22, pp. 44-47, under the title “An Important Loan of Early Chinese Pottery,” where it was noted that The Met had tried for years to form a representative collection of Song-pottery wares, without success. The author goes on to state (p. 46) that with the addition of the Peters’ loan, the new and aspiring collector can “study the different glazes, the marvelous Sung shapes, and the many varieties as in no other public collection. This happy change has come about through the generous loan by Mrs. Peters from the collection made by her late husband Samuel T. Peters, once a trustee of our Museum and one of the first collectors in this country to recognize the beauty and interest of early Chinese ceramics."

Christie's. Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Online, 7 - 24 July 2020

A green-enamelled 'dragon' jar, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795)

Alain Truong — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 19:23:20 GMT

Lot 3115. A green-enamelled 'dragon' jar, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 20 cm, 8 in. Estimate 500,000 — 700,000 HKD. Lot sold 750,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's

well potted with a tapering ovoid body rising from a recessed base to a rounded shoulder and a short neck, painted to the exterior in rich tones of green enamel with two striding five-clawed dragons in pursuit of flaming pearls amidst stylised clouds and flames, above a band of lappets at the foot, beneath a wide band of the bajixiang ('Eight Buddhist Emblems') on the shoulder with a further ruyi-head and scroll band all between single lines in underglaze blue, the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue.

Provenance: Collection of Monrad Helle, a Norwegian ambassador.
Sotheby's Paris, 18th December 2009, lot 174.

Exhibited: Recent Acquisitions, Marchant, London, 2011, cat. no. 36.

Note: A closely related jar is published in Porcelains of the National Palace Museum. Enamelled Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty, bk. II, Taipei, 1969, pl. 13; one in the Nanjing Museum, is illustrated in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 271; and another is included in Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1987, cat. no. 114. Several Qianlong jars with covers from private collections include one from the collection of Edward T. Chow, sold in these rooms, 19th May 1981, lot 537; another from the W.W. Winkworth collection, illustrated in Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1951, pl. XCI, fig. 2, and sold twice in these rooms, 29th November 1977, lot 128, and again, 1st November 1999, lot 463; a pair from the Frederick J. and Antoinette H. Van Slyke collection, sold in our New York rooms, 31st May 1989, lot 201, one of which was sold again at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th May 2006, lot 1443; and another sold twice in these rooms, 18th May 1988, lot 292, and again, 8th April 2011, lot 3165.

The combination of green enamel on a white ground was first produced during the Chenghua period and the green dragon motif continued to adorn dishes and bowls throughout the Ming dynasty. This design was adopted by potters working during the Kangxi reign to decorate jars and remained popular throughout the Qing dynasty; see a Kangxi prototype, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 190.

Sotheby's. Marchant – Fifty Qing Imperial Porcelains, Hong Kong, 11 July 2020

A wucai 'Dragon and Phoenix' dish, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735)

Alain Truong — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 17:43:11 GMT

Lot 3114. A wucai 'Dragon and Phoenix' dish, mark and period of Yongzheng (1723-1735); 20.1 cm, 7 7/8 in. Estimate 800,000 — 1,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 875,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's

the shallow rounded sides rising from a tapered foot to a gilt everted rim, the centre of interior depicting a green-enamelled five-clawed writhing dragon reaching for a flaming pearl amidst iron-red flames and doucai ruyi-head cloud scrolls, encircled by a border of five striding dragons pursuing flaming pearls beneath the gilt rim, the exterior vividly enamelled with four phoenix in flight interspersed with ruyi clouds, the base with a six-character reign mark in three vertical columns within a double circle.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 13th May 1976, lot 343.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30th April 1991, lot 101.
Sotheby's London, 8th June 1993, lot 86.
Sotheby's London, 15th May 2013, lot 174.

Exhibited: Imperial Chinese Porcelain, Ceramics & Works of Art, Marchant, London, 2013, cat. no. 42.

Note: Visually commanding for the powerful design of a dragon writhing amidst flames, balanced by the elegance of the four phoenixes, depicted flying on the underside amidst ruyi clouds, the current dish is a magnificent example of the technical proficiency of craftsmen employed at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen. The creative ingenuity of the Yongzheng potter is evident in the perfectly positioned and spaced elements of the design so that attention is cleverly drawn to the central dragon.

A closely related piece is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession no. C.45-1928); and another, formerly in the Tsui Museum of Art, is illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics IV, Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, col. pl. 126. See also a pair of similar dishes from the collection of Captain Charles Oswald Liddell, included in the exhibitions The Liddell Collection, Bluett and Son, London, 1929, cat. no. 166, and Recent Acquisitions, Important Chinese Porcelain from Private Collections, Marchant, London, 2012, cat. no. 29.

Compare also a pair of closely related dishes, originally in the Dreesmann collection, sold in our Paris rooms, 12th June 2019, lot 147, and another pair sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th/30th October 1995, lot 725.

Sotheby's. Marchant – Fifty Qing Imperial Porcelains, Hong Kong, 11 July 2020

A fine and rare pair of doucai 'Floral' bowls, Seal marks and period of Daoguang (1821-1850)

Alain Truong — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 17:26:33 GMT

Lot 3113. A fine and rare pair of doucai 'Floral' bowls, Seal marks and period of Daoguang (1821-1850); 14.5 cm, 5 3/4 in. Estimate 700,000 — 900,000 HKD. Lot sold 812,500 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's

each superbly decorated around the exterior in vivid enamels of iron-red, yellow, green and aubergine with six different exotic blooms borne on a continuous undulating scroll issuing curling leaves, above a band of ruyi-heads linked by petals, all delicately outlined in underglaze blue, the interior plain, inscribed to the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue, wood stands.

Provenance: Collection of Edward T. Chow (1910-1980).
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25th November 1980, lot 140.
S. Marchant & Son, London, 13th October 1983.
Sotheby's New York, 11th/12th September 2012, lot 389.

Exhibited: Imperial Chinese Porcelain, Ceramics & Works of Art, Marchant, London, 2013, cat. no. 42.

Note: A similar bowl was sold at these rooms, 20th May 1986, lot 111, and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 1st June 2011, lot 4005; and another, formerly in the Silas Friedlander collection, was sold at Christie's London, 1st December 1994, lot 436, and again at Christie's New York, 24th March 2011, lot 1714.

Sotheby's. Marchant – Fifty Qing Imperial Porcelains, Hong Kong, 11 July 2020