A very rare inscribed blue and white bowl, cover and saucer for the European market, Kangxi. Photo courtesy Bonhams.

The cup with one wider panel depicting a crowned king with a sceptre seated beside his queen, four of the other narrower panels with kneeling figures beneath birds in flight alternating with panels containing floral sprays, a band under the rim containing a French inscription, the cover similarly painted with the two royal figures in the medallion surrounded by radiating panels containing kneeling figures and plants, the saucer with same design on the interior and four tasselled circles and lozenges on the exterior. The saucer 13.5cm (5 3/8in) diam. (3). Estimate £5,000 - 7,000 (€6,000 - 8,400). Unsold.

Provenance: Luis Alegria Lda, Porto (label)

llegedly made for Louis XIV of France, the medallion frames a scene supposedly depicting Queen Blanche advising the infant Louis IX of France. The inscription under the rim of the cup reads:

'L'Empire de la vertu est etabli jusqu'au bout de l'univers'

This may be translated as:

'The kingdom of virtue stretches to the ends of the earth'

See D.Macintosh, Chinese Blue and White Porecelain, London, 1977, p.116.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART. London, New Bond Street. 7 Nov 2013 - www.bonhams.com