Lot 1386. A rare small ruby-enameled bowl, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 4 3/8 in. (10.9 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 80,000 - USD 120,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018

The bowl is finely potted with rounded sides supported on a straight foot ring. The exterior is covered with an even, rich, ruby enamel stopping neatly at the foot.

This elegant and refined bowl represents the extraordinary technical ability and speed of development in Chinese porcelain manufacture and decoration in the eighteenth century. This ruby-colored enamel was originally developed in Europe, and can be seen on wares produced at Meissen and Sèvres, but Chinese craftsmen were able to make significant improvements: through the use of ground ruby glass, as well as reducing the proportion of colloidal gold and the amount of tin in the mixture, they created a more stable and even product which surpassed the European versions of this enamel. On the present bowl, the result is a striking, rich color which is only enhanced by the simplicity of the form.   

The refinement of this new ruby color lead in turn to one of the most striking innovations in the Chinese decorative vocabulary: the development of palette known as famille rose in the West, and as fencai (pale colors), yangcai (foreign colors) or falangcai (enamel colors) in Chinese.  

Qianlong-marked small bowls or cups such as the present lot are rarer than Yongzheng-marked examples. Compare, however, a related bowl and cover from the Zhuyuetang Collection, included in the exhibition Shimmering Colours. Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods: the Zhuyuetang Collection, Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2005, cat. no. 51, and a related cup with straighter sides which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1st June 2011, lot 3539.