Asian Art at Marchant

Chinese famille verte biscuit porcelain water dropper, shuizhu, of a recumbent piebald horse on a green glazed leaf-form base, with head turned to the side beneath its long flowing segmented mane and forelock falling between the pricked ears, the front legs bent as if about to stand, covered on the body with dark brown enamel patches on a pale cream translucent ground, the back with open oval aperture, the tail and mane heightened in pale aubergine glaze, the bridle and hair to the small pastern heightened in yellow, the base unglazed.

5 3/4 inches, 14.6 cm long.

Early Kangxi, circa 1680.

Wood stand.

Chinese imperial porcelain doucai tripod censer, san zu lu, painted on the body with the Eight Buddhist Emblems, bajixiang, each ribbon tied amongst scrolling lotus and peony flowerheads on branches with scrolls and leaves, beneath a yellow ground ruyi-head band, between two curved openwork handles with open-winged iron-red bats and aubergine bats at the terminals, the flat sides with keyfret, with a lotus flowerhead interlinked branch on the neck above a green-washed band, the relief galleried rim with iron-red keyfret, all on three cabriole feet with flowerheads and branches linked by ruyi-heads, above further keyfret at the foot.

The rim with a six-character sealmark of Qianlong written in a line within a double rectangle in underglaze blue and of the period, 1736-1795.

11 ⅛ inches, 28.3 cm total height.

Pair of Chinese imperial porcelain large moulded celadon-glazed bowls, wan, of deep form with upright sides and straight footrims, each moulded on the exterior with six peony blooms on their characteristic leafy branches beneath an archaic scrolling band at the rim and above a keyfret band at the foot, the interior incised overall with a central peony flowerhead encircled by six further blooms on a continuous scrolling branch with leaves beneath a keyfret band at the rim, the rims glazed white, covered overall in a luminous even pale celadon glaze.

Each base with a six-character sealmark of Qianlong in underglaze blue and of the period, 1736-1795.

10 ½ inches, 26.7 cm diameter.