An inscribed Yixing stoneware 'paogua' teapot, Jiaqing-Daoguang, signed Yang Baonian. Photo courtesy Bonhams. 

Potted in the form of a compressed peach fruit, rising from a recessed circular foot with a bulging epicentre, the curvaceous body tapering towards a short neck, flanked by a short stump spout and a 'C'-shaped handle on opposing sides, the exterior incised with a series of kaishu inscriptions on one side, the base impressed with a three-character zhuanshu potter's seal mark, with another two-character zhuanshu seal mark under the handle, the stoneware of a greyish brown with gentle speckles of gold. 15cm wide. Estimate HK$ 300,000 - 400,000 (€29,000 - 38,000)

The 'Paogua' or 'gourd' style is considered one of the Eighteen Forms of Mansheng Pots created by Yang Pengnian and Chen Mansheng. For examples of teapots made by Yang Baonian, see a related teapot but in different form in the K.S.Lo collection, illustrated by K.S.Lo, The Stonewares of Yixing - From the Ming period to the Present Day, Hong Kong, 1986, p.203, pl.124; and another formerly in the collection of Song Zhiqin, to be offered in this sale, lot 111. Compare also another very similar teapot but made by Baonian's brother, Yang Pengnian, previously collected by Wu Dacheng (1835-1902), now in the collection of Tang Yun, illustrated by Tang Yun, Zisha hu jianshang, Hong Kong, 1993, p.48.

Bonhams. MASTERPIECES OF YIXING STONEWARE FROM THE MR AND MRS JIMMY SHA COLLECTION. Hong Kong. 24 Nov 2013 13:30 CST