Lot 14. A rare gold-enamelled bowl, Yongzheng mark and period (1723-1735). Estimate 20,000 — 30,000 GBP. Lot sold 25,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby’s.

the rounded sides rising from a short straight foot, covered inside and out with a rich gold enamel, the base inscribed with the six-character reign mark in underglaze blue;11.4cm., 4 1/2 in.

Provenance: Acquired by the parents of the present owners in the UK in the early 20th century.

Note: Bowls of this type include a slightly smaller example sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 20th May 1987, lot 500; a pair sold twice in our Hong Kong rooms, 16th November 1988, lot 331, and again, 28th April 1992, lot 79; and a cup in the Sir Percival David collection and now in the British Museum, London, published in Margaret Medley, Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Qing Monochrome Wares, London, 1989, pl. no. B598. An unmarked pair of bowls, in the Meiyintang collection, is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 949.