Winston Frederick Churchill Guest, born in England in 1906 and named after his godfather and his father's best friend and cousin, Sir Winston Churchill, was raised in the company of great men. His father, Captain the Right Honourable Frederick E. Guest, a grandson of the 7th Duke of Marlborough, was a Member of Parliament and held the post of Britain's first Secretary of State for Air. His mother, Amy Phipps, daughter of Henry Phipps of Pittsburgh who was a philanthropist and partner at Carnegie Steel Corporation, harnessed her considerable resources to fulfill her deep interest in aviation and to realize its value in the future of world transportation.

Mr. Guest was not only a devoted student (while attending Yale University and Columbia Law School he developed fluency in French and Spanish), but also an avid sportsman and Polo Hall of Fame 10 Goal player. He later served as Captain in the United States Marine Corps in World War II, and during his overseas travels he began his exceptional art collection. Many of the Chinese works in the collection were purchased by Mr. Guest in the mid-20th century, following the war, through his close friend Ralph M. Chait, of Chait Galleries, and through C.T. Loo, also a predominant Chinese art dealer of the period.

In 1947, he married the love of his life, Lucy Douglas Cochrane, of Boston, known to family and friends as C.Z., which stemmed from her young brother's attempt to call her 'sister'. Ernest Hemingway stood witness as best man at the ceremony in Havana, Cuba. As a style icon of New York high society, Mrs. Guest graced the covers of Time magazine and Town & Country, among many others. With their unbridled enthusiasm, high standards and unrivaled sense of style, C.Z. and Winston F. C. Guest became one of the most iconic taste-making couples of 20th century America.

The following section (lots 800-810) presents selected Chinese works of art from the collection of Winston F. C. and C.Z. Guest. Christie’s is also honored to offer Western decorative arts in The Exceptional Sale and The Collector Sale later in the Fall.

Lot 800. A blue and white brush pot, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 150,000. © Christie's 2021

The sides are finely decorated with an audience scene in a terraced garden, depicting a central female figure being greeted by a bowing official surrounded by attendants. The countersunk base is inscribed with an apocryphal Chenghua mark.

Property from the collection of Winston F.C. and C.Z. Guest

Provenance: Frank Caro, successor to C.T. Loo, no. 2068, (according to label).

Literature: S. Salk, C.Z. Guest American Style Icon: Celebrating Her Timeless World at Home, in Her Garden & Around Town, New York, 2013, p.151.

Lot 801. Two blue and white gu-form vases, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 18 1/8 in. (46 cm.) high. Estimate USD 25,000 - USD 35,000. Price realised USD 81,250. © Christie's 2021

Each vase is decorated on the tall foot and neck with continuous scenes of gentlemen in a terraced garden, and on the mid-sections with composite floral sprays.

Property from the collection of Winston F.C. and C.Z. Guest

Lot 802. A blue and white 'hunting' brush pot, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 7 ¼ in. (18.4 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 20,000 - USD 30,000. Price realised USD 125,000. © Christie's 2021

The brush pot is decorated on the exterior in soft tones of cobalt blue with a continuous scene of equestrians hunting deer and pheasants. The base is inscribed with an apocryphal Xuande mark.

Property from the collection of Winston F.C. and C.Z. Guest

Literature: S. Salk, C.Z. Guest American Style Icon: Celebrating Her Timeless World at Home, in Her Garden & Around Town, New York, 2013, p.151.

Lot 803. A rare pair of famille verte bowls, Kangxi six-character marks in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1662-1722); 6 3/8 in. (16.2 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 15,000 - USD 25,000. Price realised USD 50,000. © Christie's 2021

Each bowl with deep, flaring sides is decorated on both the interior and exterior in yellow, green and aubergine with four galloping horses, auspicious emblems and prunus flowers, all reserved on a ground of swirling waves.

Property from the collection of Winston F.C. and C.Z. Guest.

Provenance: Chait Galleries, New York (according to labels).

Note: The present bowls can be compared to be an example in the Tsui Museum of Art, illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics IV, Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 106.

Lot 804. A pair of yellow-glazed jars and covers, 18th-19th century; 9 ½ in. (24.1 cm.) high. Estimate USD 10,000 - USD 15,000. Price realised USD 23,750. © Christie's 2021

Each jar has a high-shouldered body tapering to a shallow foot, and each domed cover has an everted rim and a small bud-form finial. Both are covered overall with a lemon-yellow glaze.

Property from the collection of Winston F.C. and C.Z. Guest.

Provenance: Parish Watson & Co, New York (according to label).
Chait Galleries, New York (according to label).

Lot 805. A large famille verte and iron-red-decorated 'sanduo' jar, Transitional period, 17th century; 19 in. (48.3 cm.) high. Estimate USD 8,000 - USD 12,000. Price realised USD 35,000. © Christie's 2021

The heavily potted jar is decorated with leafy, fruiting branches of peach, pomegranate, and finger citron, representing the 'Three Abundances' (sanduo), and the neck is decorated with floral sprays of peony, prunus and lotus.

Property from the collection of Winston F.C. and C.Z. Guest.

Lot 806. A rare wucai 'dragon and phoenix' dish, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 7 7/8 in. (20 cm.) diam. Estimate USD 80,000 - USD 120,000. Price realised USD 106,250. © Christie's 2021

The dish is decorated in the center with a green dragon leaping amidst flames and clouds in pursuit of a flaming pearl, below a band of dragons and flaming pearls in underglaze blue on the everted, gilt-edged rim. The exterior is decorated with four phoenixes in flight.

Property from the collection of Winston F.C. and C.Z. Guest.

Note: The present dish is very rare, with masterfully executed details of a five-clawed dragon and phoenixes. The dish can be compared to examples in museums, including the virtually identical dish in the Victoria & Albert Museum donated by Mrs E. H. Lane in memory of Mrs Ada Lane, accession no. C.45-1928, and another in the Tsui Museum of Art, illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art, Chinese Ceramics IV, Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 126. A ‘dragon’ dish of the same design was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, Marchant – Fifty Qing Imperial Porcelains, 11 July 2020, lot 3114. Another example was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 28 November 2017, lot 20.