Lot 3109. A finely enamelled coral-ground famille-rose bowl, Seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 10.8 cm, 4 1/4  in. Estimate 900,000 — 1,200,000 HKD. Lot sold 1,750,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's

well potted with deep rounded sides resting on a short foot, the exterior vibrantly enamelled with three pink blossoming peonies on green branches, each within a lemon-yellow ground cartouche bordered with foliate scrollwork, alternating with blue flowerheads, all reserved on a brilliant coral-red ground, inscribed to the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue.

Provenance: John Sparks Ltd, London, circa 1950.
Collection of Sir Arthur Sims (1877-1969).

Exhibited: 90th Anniversary Exhibition Qing Porcelain from Private Collections, Marchant, London, 2015, cat. no. 35.

Note: A closely related bowl from the Wang Xing Lou collection is illustrated in Julian Thompson, Imperial Perfection. The Palace Porcelain of Three Chinese Emperors, Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, Hong Kong, 2004, cat. no. 58, where the author notes that "the decoration of this bowl, using two contrasting colour grounds, is inspired by the Kangxi wares decorated in the Imperial Palace workshop, though the treatment of the scroll patterns is here more detailed and complex. Unlike the Kangxi bowls, the palette includes the combination of coral-red and translucent green enamel, colours taken from the wucai, or 'famille-verte' palette, with the opaque enamels of the 'famille-rose' palette."

A closely related bowl from the British Rail Pension Fund, included in the Min Chiu Society exhibition Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1992, cat. no. 159, was sold in these rooms, 16th May 1989, lot 81; and another from the collection of Sybil Luna Moses and Maurice Dangoor, was sold in our New York rooms, 15th March 2017, lot 519.

For the Kangxi prototype of this design, see one with a yuzhi reign mark in pink enamel, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 2.

Sotheby's. Marchant – Fifty Qing Imperial Porcelains, Hong Kong, 11 July 2020