Provenance: Sir Ernest Joseph Cassel (1852-1921)
Lady Delamere.

Sir Ernest Joseph Cassel GCB GCMG GCVO PC (1852-1921), a German Jew, who arrived penniless in Liverpool, England, in 1869, quickly rose within the banking industry to become one of the wealthiest men in England of his day. Cassel became a close friend of King Edward VII, prime minister Herbert Asquith and Winston Churchill. He was a generous philanthropist whose benefactions included large sums of money for education, hospitals and the British Red Cross. He also built and endowed an Anglo-German Institute in 1911 in memory of King Edward VII.

Cassel formed an extensive art collection and also had many beautiful houses. After the early death of his wife Annette, his widowed sister helped him bring up his daughter. His only child, Maude Cassel (1879-1911) also died young. He doted on the two granddaughters she left him, especially the eldest, Edwina, who went on to marry Lord Mountbatten. His only child having predeceased him, the art collection was inherited by Cassel's two granddaughters: Lady Delamere and her sister Edwina Mountbatten. The following lots (nos. 3594-3601) were inherited by Lady Delamere and bequeathed to her sons.

Exhibited: The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England, 1961-1998.

Note: Although bowls of this kind are known as 'marriage' bowls, it may be that they were sometimes intended simply to reflect the wealth and status of their owners. In discussion of Ming dynasty twin-handled cups in Chinese Jades, London, 2004, p. 42, Ming Wilson has suggested that they were indeed 'portable wealth akin to gold ingots'. The author refers to the inventory of the precious items confiscated from the corrupt minister Yan Song (1480-1565), which contained 857 jade vessels, 311 of which were jade cups, many with elaborate handles. It is also mentioned that the share number of such pieces in the possession of a very powerful minister suggests that they were of great value and may have been given as gifts in lieu of precious metals.

The iconography of this bowl has been chosen with care to provide auspicious messages. The the wan symbol, the Ruyi and chime, Qing, allude to the wish for all one's wishes to come true, Jiqing ruyi, in perpetuity, Wan, with additional wishes for prosperity, Fu, symbolised by the bats, peace He , by the lotus, longevity Shou, by the ribbons.

A related bowl with very similar symbols and carving including the unusual ribbon design on the base, is illustrated in Chinese Art, Vol. 2, 1993, no. 28.