Lot 1876. A fine and rare pair of doucai 'Eight Immortals' bowls. Yongzheng six-character marks within double-circles and of the period (1723-1735). 4 1/4in. (10.6cm.) diam. Estimate HK$2,000,000 - HK$2,500,000. Price Realized HK$11,860,000 ($1,534,960). © Christie's Images Ltd 2010.

Finely pencilled and enamelled in brilliant tones of iron-red, yellow, aubergine, green and black around the exterior of each with a frieze of the Eight Immortals in billowing clothes with their attributes supported on cloud scrolls encircling the base and extending behind each figure, the central medallion containing the Three Star Gods: Shouxing, Luxing and Fuxing, in a garden beneath an arched pine tree, Japanese wood box (2).

Provenance: Collection of Chutaro Nakano (1862-1939), Japan, acquired in the early 20th century

Note: Bowls of this type decorated in doucai enamels are extremely rare. Only three other pairs of doucai bowls of this pattern appear to have been sold at auction, a pair at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20 November 1984, lot 501; a further pair at Christie's London, 4 December 1995, lot 153; and a pair first sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 October 1994, lot 617, and again 29 May 2007, lot 617.

Blue and white bowls of this pattern are more common and were produced throughout the Qing dynasty. See a single Yongzheng-marked blue and white bowl similarly painted on the exterior, but with Shoulao and his deer in the interior roundel, from the collection of Sir Harry Garner, illustrated by S. Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1971, pl.LX

Christie's. The Imperial Sale Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31 May 2010, Hong Kong