Lot 2373. A carved yellow-enamelled brush pot, Daoguang period (1821-1850); 5 15/16 in. (15 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 180,000 - HKD 250,000. Price realised HKD 400,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2012 

Finely carved in relief with a continuous scene of a dog looking up at a hawk perched on a pine tree growing on the far bank against a hilly backdrop, all under an even pale yellow enamel, with the eyes of the animals picked out in black. The mouth and the foot rim are finely incised with short linear strokes to imitate bamboo. The base is carved with the maker's mark reading Chen Guozhi zuo (made), stand.   

Provenance: J.J. Lally & Co., 2009  

Note: Chen Guozhi was one of the finest of a small group of independent ceramicists, that included Wang Binrong and Li Youcheng, working in Jingdezhen in the early-mid 19th century who signed their important pieces. Compare to a turquoise-glazed relief-decorated porcelain brush pot bearing the mark, Da Qing Daoguang Chen Guozhi zuo, illustrated by J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. 2, Geneva, 1999, pp. 246-7, no. 340; and a yellow-enamelled brush pot with a scene of landscape and figures bearing Daoguang mark in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 55, no. 49, which has the finely worked details on the rim to imitate bamboo like the present lot.