Lot 28. A very rare white glazed 'cut-through' 'lotus' bowl, Qianlong seal mark and of the period (1736-1795); 13.5cm (5 1/4in) diam. Estimate £ 30,000-50,000. Sold for £ 43,812 (€ 49,011). Photo: Bonhams.

Thinly potted with rounded sides rising from a straight foot to a gently flared rim, delicately pierced around the body with a broad band of scrolling lotus blooms, applied overall with a transparent unctuous glaze revealing the white body and intricate design.

Provenance: P. Parizel collection, by repute
Galerie 41 Antiquités, Monaco
A European private collection, and thence by descent.

Note: This delicate bowl is notable for its exquisite lace-like decoration, which was made by piercing the body with a delicate openwork design of small perforations that were subsequently filled with a clear glaze. An innovation of the Qianlong period, this decoration is known in the West as 'grains-de-riz' (rice grain), because the tiny perforations resembled small grains of rice.

Compare with a related example, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl.147; another in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published by J.Ayers and S.Masahiko, eds, Ceramic Art of the World, vol.15, Tokyo, 1983, pl.280; one with a more elaborate motif illustrated by R.Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol.2, London, 1994, pl.793, and later sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 October 2012, lot 3; a pair from the Alfred F. Pillsbury collection in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, included in the exhibition Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period through Ch'ien-Lung, Los Angeles, 1952, no.320; another slightly smaller pair in the Zhuyuetang Collection, illustrated by L.Schwartz-Arenales, eds, Mille ans de Monochromes, Geneva, 2018, p.372, no.197a-b.

See also a similar white glazed 'cut-out' decoration bowl and cover, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, which was sold at Christie's New York, 21-22 March 2013, lot 1501. A similar pair of bowls, Qianlong seal marks and of the period, was sold at Sotheby's London, 6 November 2019, lot 7.

From Millicent Rogers (1902-1953). A rare glazed bowl with cut-out decoration, Qianlong seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795); 5 in. (13 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 20,000. Price realised USD 81,250 at Christie's New York, 21-22 March 2013, lot 1501. © Christie's Images Ltd 2013

Cf. my post: A rare glazed bowl with cut-out decoration, Qianlong seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1736-1795)

From the Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978). A fine and rare pair of white-glazed cut-through 'lotus' bowls, Qianlong seal marks and period (1736-1795). Diameter of each 13.5 cm, 5¼ in. Estimate: 50,000 - 70,000 GBP. Lot sold 162,500 GBP at Sotheby's London, 6 November 2019, lot 7. Photo Sotheby's.

Cf. my post: A fine and rare pair of white-glazed cut-through 'lotus' bowls, Qianlong seal marks and period (1736-1795)