Lot 116. Property from the Peter and Mary White Collection. A Hoi Anh Hoard blue and white ewer, Vietnam, 15th-16th century; 24cm high. Sold for £2,560 © Bonhams 2026
 

The pear-shaped vessel after an Islamic metalwork form, rising to a flared neck, flanked by a gently curved spout and handle scrolling at the upper end, the body decorated to each side with an openwork cartouche carved with a parrot amongst scrolling foliage within red painted borders, on a ground of stylised animals amongst flowering plants and grasses, above wide petal-form lappets at the foot.

Provenance: The Hoi An Hoard (collector's notes)
Butterfields San Francisco, 11-13th October 2000, lot 3923 (collector's notes)
Acquired from R & G McPherson Antiques, London, 2002 (collector's notes)

Published and Illustrated: M. White, Beasts at the Whites' House: A selection of ceramics from the Whites' House collection, vol.1, n.p., 2020, p.176

Note: A similar ewer, 15th century, can be seen at the Brooklyn Museum, New York, accession number 2022.38.1.

Lot 117. Property from the Peter and Mary White Collection.Two blue and white and enamelled Hoi An Hoard 'Bird' dishes, Vietnam, circa 1500. The largest: 34.3cm diam. (2). Sold for £2,176 © Bonhams 2026
 

Comprising: an underglaze blue and white dish decorated with a bird perched on stems of corn, within a border of scrolling, leafy stems, the exterior with petal lappets, the base with a brown wash; and a blue and green enamelled dish decorated with a bird on the branches of a tree peony, within arabesque-form border panels decorated with dot motifs, the base with a reddish-brown wash.

Provenance: The Hoi An Hoard (collector's notes)
Butterfields San Francisco, 11-13th October 2000, lot 12290 (the smaller dish)(collector's notes)
Acquired from R & G McPherson Antiques, London, 2002 (the smaller dish)(collector's notes)
Acquired from R & G McPherson Antiques, London, 2004 (the larger dish)(collector's notes)

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: The Oriental Ceramic Society, The World in Blue and White: An Exhibition of Blue and White Ceramics dating between 1320 and 1820, from members of the Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 2003, p.16, cat.no.31 (the smaller dish)
M. White, Beasts at the Whites' House: A selection of ceramics from the Whites' House collection, vol.1, n.p., 2020, p.174-175 (Published and Illustrated)

Note: See a similar blue and green enamelled bird dish in the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, object no.2014.043.

Lot 118. Property from the Peter and Mary White Collection. A blue and white 'Trick' stem cup and a teapot and cover, Vietnam, 15th century and 16th century. The tallest: 20cm high. (3). Sold for £12,800 © Bonhams 2026

The cup with a turtle perched at the well and a figure hidden beneath, the exterior decorated with scrolling foliage above lappet bands; the teapot with panels of floral sprays against diaper ground above lappets, set with an upright loop handle and an S-shaped spout.

Provenance: Acquired in 2002 (the teapot)(collector's notes)
Acquired in 2003 (the 'trick' cup)(collector's notes)

Published and Illustrated: M. White, Drinking at the Whites' House: Ceramics from the Whites' House collection, vol. 2, n.p., 2021, p.77 (the 'trick' cup); p.78 (the teapot)

Lot 119. Property from the Peter and Mary White Collection. A selection of small blue and white items and two green-glazed lime pots, Vietnam, 15th-18th Century. The largest: 15.3cm high. (9). Sold for £5,376 © Bonhams 2026
 

Comprising: a greyish-blue-glazed crab-form box and cover; a covered box carved to the exterior with geometric designs and a cover decorated to the top with a medallion enclosing a gentleman seated in a landscape holding a book; a vase decorated with two cartouches, each enclosing a bird perched on a foliate spray, above a band of stylised lotus petals; a kendi of compressed globular form, painted around the exterior with bands of scrolling floral designs; a peach-shaped brush washer modelled with a perched parrot forming the handle to one side; and two green-glazed lime pots, each with an aperture and applied with a betel-vine-form handle.

Provenance: Hoi An Cargo (the peach-shaped brush washer, the vase and the crab-shaped box and cover)(labels and/or collector's notes)
Mr Robert P. Piccus (1935–2022) and Mrs Alice Y. Piccus, San Francisco (the covered box and the kendi)(labels)
Acquired from R & G McPherson Antiques, London, 2002 (the vase)(collector's notes)
Christie's South Kensington, 13th February 2003, lot 408 (the larger lime pot)
Acquired from R & G McPherson Antiques, London, 2003 (the kendi and the covered box)(collector's notes)
Acquired from R & G McPherson Antiques, London, 2004 (the peach-shaped brush washer)(label and collector's notes)

Exhibited: Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, Southeast Asian & Chinese Trade Pottery, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 27th January-2nd April 1979, no.205 (the covered box)(label); no.182 (the kendi)(label)

Published and Illustrated: M. White, Beasts at the Whites' House: A selection of ceramics from the Whites' House collection, vol.1, n.p., 2020, p.177 (the brush washer); p.226 (the crab)
M. White, Living at the Whites' House: Ceramics from the Mary and Peter White collection, vol. 4, n.p., 2023, p.280 (the two lime pots)

Note: There were very few parrot and peach brush washers that were recovered from the Hoi An Cargo compared to other ceramic vessels, making the one in the present lot rather unique. There is speculation that they were used for cosmetics due to the symbolism of peaches for longevity and parrots for female beauty.

Lot 119. Property from the Peter and Mary White Collection. A collection of celadon wares, Vietnam and Thailand, 13th to 15th century. The largest: 20.3cm high. (8). Sold for £281.60 © Bonhams 2026
 

Comprising: a celadon-glazed deep bowl with ribbed sides; a celadon shallow bowl of flared form with moulded petals to the interior; a plate covered in crackled bluish celadon glaze; a 'cockerel' water dropper in polychrome enamels; a brown-glazed lime pot set with chicken head and tail; an unglazed kendi set with chicken head and tail; a vase of ovoid form stepping in at the shoulder rising to a flared rim, decorated with a band of elongated lappets; a double gourd celadon vase set with loop handles.

Provenance: Christie's London, 13th February 2003, lot 407 (the celadon-glazed deep bowl and the celadon shallow bowl)(collector's notes and labels)
Acquired in 2003 (the chicken head lime pot and the double gourd vase)(collector's notes)

Published and Illustrated: M. White, Eating at the Whites' House: Ceramics from the Mary and Peter White collection, vol. 3, n.p., 2022, p.69 (the bowl)

Note: A similar 'chicken' lime pot, late 11th century, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, accession no.1984.498.1a, b.

Bonhams. A Life in Ceramics: The Peter and Mary White Collection of Chinese Art, Part IV, London, 6 – 16 July 2026