Porcelain & Works of Art

A Chinese porcelain famille verte large saucer dish decorated with a scene from The Generals of the Yang Family, depicting Mu Guiying accepting the role of commander offered to her by her grandmother-in-law She Taijun, with Wang Qiang looking over in disapproval, all set in a pavilion scene amongst rock work and trees, the border of alternating floral and diaper ground amongst medallions of auspicious objects, the base glazed white.

Chinese porcelain famille noire and gilt hexagonal brushpot, decorated with six panels containing Buddhist and Daoist figures, Liu Hai and his three-legged toad, Damo amongst waves, Lan Cai He with a staff and basket of flowers, Zhongli Quan with a fan, Jiang Ziya in his fishing hat and He Xiangu holding a flower, all on an elaborate seed green ground amongst flowering peonies, the foot similarly decorated, the rim with a scrolling band in underglaze blue, the base glazed white.

Chinese porcelain imperial bowl with deep rounded sides rising from a short straight foot, covered overall in an even blue glaze, the base with a six-character mark of Kangxi within a double-ring in underglaze blue and of the period.

Chinese porcelain famille verte, wucai, sleeve vase, painted with boys amongst scrolling leaves and flowers, divided with an underglaze blue ground.

A Chinese porcelain wucai baluster vase and cover, painted with seven standing ladies in a fenced garden scene, three playing musical instruments including; drums, music stone and cymbals, with a central dancing lady, her hands beneath her long sleeves, whilst three other ladies look on, all amongst rock work, a large banana plant, pine, flowers and foliage, beneath a crackled ice band at the shoulder, the neck with iron-red, camellia and rose flower sprays; the cover with two boys playing amongst rock work and plants, the unglazed base with Chinese ink characters, and two further characters on the inside of the cover.

Chinese porcelain wucai beaker vase, gu, painted on the flared top section with two elegant standing ladies in a fenced garden scene, with four boys playing amongst plantain, rockwork and beneath clouds, mountains and pine in the distance, the lower section with fruiting peach branches, the central bulb with flower spays of camellia and prunus.

Chinese imperial porcelain doucai deep saucer dish, pan, painted in the centre with two branches of tree peony bearing large yellow, iron-red and aubergine blooms, amongst lime and apple-green leaves, issuing from pierced taihu rockwork, between sprays of bamboo and beneath two butterflies in flight and within two underglaze blue borders, with a further underglaze blue line beneath the rim. The exterior painted with large branches of chrysanthemum and hibiscus amongst rockwork and smaller sprays of aster, pink and bamboo, with two butterflies in flight above two underglaze blue lines and beneath a further line at the rim.

Pair of Chinese imperial porcelain bamboo bowls, wan, of thinly potted deep form with upright sides and short foot, each painted in the reverse technique with white branches of bamboo on a rich and even coral-coloured ground, the interiors glazed white.

Pair of Chinese imperial porcelain famille rose enamelled conical flower-form bowls and covers, gai wan, with six petals, painted with pairs of sky-blue and turquoise enamelled five-clawed dragons with open mouths in pursuit of yellow and iron-red flaming pearls amongst ruyi-clouds and flames above crested and foaming waves, repeated on the rims of the covers.

Chinese imperial porcelain blue and white bottle vase, suantou kou ping, with pear-shaped body, everted lipped foot, garlic mouth and upright rim, painted on the body with twelve seasonal blooms borne on a continuous scrolling branch with characteristic leaves including peony, chrysanthemum, camellia, hibiscus and lotus, beneath a ruyi-head band and a blue washed prunus flower head band at the ribbed shoulder, the neck with lappets of branches and leaves beneath the garlic mouth painted with flowerheads and their characteristic leaves beneath a keyfret band at the upright rim. The foot painted with a crested wave and foam band beneath blue ground lappets, painted overall in the classic Ming style with heaped and piled effect.

Pair of Chinese imperial porcelain yellow ground bat bowls, wan, thinly potted of steeply rounded form on tall, gently splayed foot rims, each incised on the exterior with twelve iron-red bats in flight, heightened in white enamel, each suspending from its mouth a pale green speckled double-gourd tied with a blue enamel ribbon, amongst dense ruyi-head clouds, between bands of upright ruyi-head terminal petals at the foot and beneath a ruyi-head band and single incised green line at the rim, the interior glazed yellow.

Chinese imperial porcelain large celadon-glazed moulded and carved deep bowl, wan, with flared white-glazed rim and slightly inverted foot decorated on the exterior with large sprays of lotus flowers, leaves and buds, fruiting peach branch, peonies, a pink flower, finger citron, prunus, camellia, fruiting pomegranate, tree peony and fruiting lychee, covered overall in a rich and even luminous celadon glaze, extending to the interior and the base.

Chinese imperial porcelain lemon-yellow ground underglaze blue decorated nine peach dish, pan, of slightly conical form with gently flared rim, painted in the centre with two leafy branches bearing nine peaches in early Ming style with heaped and piled effect, all within two double lines in underglaze blue. The underside painted with continuous scrolling branches of entwined morning glory with nine flowerheads amongst large leaves and buds, within double lines in underglaze blue with a further double line on the foot rim.

Chinese imperial porcelain blue and white bottle vase, shang ping, painted in the Ming style with heaped and piled effect, with globular rounded body and four wide relief ribs, tall cylindrical flared neck and slightly splayed foot, painted on the body with six different large flowerheads on a continuous scrolling branch beneath six smaller flowerheads each with its characteristic leaves, including lotus, peony, chrysanthemum and camellia, above a wide band of blue wash ground lappets and beneath bands of ruyi-heads and different flowers on a scrolling branch at the shoulder, the neck with tall leaves above a keyfret band, beneath a further ruyi-head band with a crested wave band beneath the rim, the splayed foot with a scrolling branch.

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.

Pair of Chinese imperial porcelain wucai dragon and phoenix bowls, wan, deeply potted with gently flaring rims, each painted on the exterior with an iron-red and a green five-clawed dragon in pursuit of a flaming pearl separated by two swooping phoenix birds amongst leaves and flowerheads in two tones of green, beneath a band of bajixiang alternating with ruyi-heads, above two lines in underglaze blue on the foot. The interior painted in the well with an iron-red five yellow-clawed dragon in pursuit of a flaming pearl amongst flames within two underglaze blue double lines and one at the rim.

Chinese imperial porcelain blue and white vase of zun form, painted in the Ming style with heaped and piled effect, the body with two wide bands, the lower register with six different large flowerheads and twelve smaller flowerheads, all on continuous scrolling branches with their characteristic leaves, including peony, lily, rose, poppy, pink, camellia and mallow, beneath a band with six large lotus flowerheads on a continuous scrolling leafy branch with smaller flowerheads, all between six relief ribs above a wide band of swirling crested waves and a further rib above lappets on the splayed foot, all between two high relief taotie animal mask and ring handles, the neck with formal archaic style leaves, beneath a further crested wave band at the rim.

Pair of Chinese imperial porcelain lavender-glazed altar vessels and covers, dou, each modelled after an archaic bronze with moulded and carved archaic designs, the upright body with ribs and bands all on a splayed, ribbed foot, the cover with a design of scrolls, fretwork and two registers of stylised waves beneath a double-rope twist openwork finial, covered overall including the interior and underside in a luminous, rich and even lavender glaze, all the rims dressed in brown in veneration of the archaic prototype.