Porcelain & Works of Art

Chinese porcelain blue and white large saucer dish painted in the centre with a seated scholar leaning on a rockwork table, looking out at a waterfall emerging from the rocks and causing ripples on the river, all in a landscape scene with overhanging rockwork and plants beneath a cloud bank and birds in flight, all within a single line, the reverse with two birds perched amongst branches between double lines, the base glazed white.

Chinese porcelain blue and white ‘snowflake’ form deep bowl, with wide flat everted octagonal foliate rim with horseshoe indentations, painted in the centre with a flower head on a leafy branch encircled by a ribbon-tied lozenge, ribbon-tied music stones and two pairs of crossed hu tablets amongst leaves, all within a double ring, the flat wide everted rim painted with two swallows in flight between long branches with flower and leaves, all within a blue-washed border, the underside with two pairs of lozenges and pearls.

Chinese porcelain blue and white saucer dish painted with two large shrimp beside an eight-character poem, ‘qian yu Cangming, fu ruo long xing', ‘hides in the Cangming river, with a form like the shape of a dragon,’ the cavetto moulded with anhua waves, flowers and ruyi-heads, the underside painted with underglaze blue waves, the base with a six-character mark of Xuande within a double ring.

Chinese porcelain blue and white food bowl with irregular foliate rim, painted on the well of the interior with a scholar and attendant standing on a rocky promontory in a river landscape scene, all within a double ring, the deep cavetto with three insects in flight between three prunus flower heads, all beneath a blue-washed rim, the exterior with a butterfly, two insects and two prunus flowers, all on three short bracket feet.

Chinese porcelain blue and white summer mizusashi, water container, painted on the interior with two buffalo amongst clumps of grass beneath ruyi-clouds and mountains in the distance, all within a double ring, the exterior with a single rib and stripes imitating a barrel, the foot rim and base unglazed revealing the biscuit body.

Chinese porcelain blue and white large circular deep dish with flat everted rim, painted in the centre with a circular fruit within a six-pointed flower head, encircled by anhua flower heads on a scrolling branch with leaves, within a flower head band and a double ring, the rim with eight blue-ground Yamamoto family mon roundels, eight hexagonal flower head medallions and eight stylised flowers above a triangular diaper in the cavetto, all within a pale blue-washed rim, the exterior with nine flower heads, the flat base unglazed revealing the biscuit body.

Chinese porcelain blue and white hexagonal deep dish with upright sides painted with a rooster standing on a rocky promontory crowing at the rising sun, beside flower sprays and insects in flight, with cloud banks and mountain peaks in the distance, all within a single blue line and beneath a blue-washed band on the rim, the flat base unglazed.

Chinese porcelain blue and white hexagonal lobed deep dish painted in the centre with a pair of birds, one perched on a flowering peony branch, the other with open wings standing amongst rockwork looking up at its mate, amongst grasses and blue-washed flower sprays encircled by a wide hexagonal cash diaper with six flower heads of lotus, poppy, chrysanthemum, peony, pomegranate flower and tree peony, all beneath the upright brown-dressed rim.

Chinese porcelain blue and white deep saucer dish of shonzui style with fluted body, hariki petal-shape needle-point rim, painted on a blue ground with two phoenix birds, one standing beside a tree with peony blossom, rockwork, fruiting lingzhi and three precious objects, the other phoenix behind the rock looking back at its mate, encircled by six ruyi-head lappets of aster, camellia and magnolia, all beneath a brown-dressed rim, the underside with a continuous branch of morning glory flowers and buds, the base with a six-character mark of Chenghua within a double ring.

Chinese porcelain blue and white shonzui-type faceted decagonal bottle vase of double-gourd form, tokuri, with each facet fluted and ribbed and painted with geometric designs including interlocking keyfret, scrolls, wan-characters, interlaced cash, plum blossom flowers on hexagonal blue ground, weave-pattern, ‘chess-board’, diamonds and flowerhead diaper, between a keyfret band at a narrow waist, the flat unglazed base with short foot rim revealing the fine white biscuit body, the rim slightly reduced with old metalwork fitting.

Chinese porcelain blue and white kosometsuke deep plate with everted rim, painted in the centre in vivid blue tones with a fisherman standing at the stern with the rectangular sail open, with rock work in the foreground and a two-tiered pagoda in the distance beneath the moon, with an unusual lappet border in the form of a flower, the underside with sprays of branches.

Chinese pottery sancai and blue glazed pillow or wrist rest, carved on the curved top with two ducks facing each other and resting on large lotus flower heads between ruyi and amongst other plants, on a rich lapis blue ground, the four sides with chestnut and white splashes extending on three sides to the foot, the base unglazed, revealing the biscuit body.

Chinese seven-colour glass overlay snuff bottle, superbly decorated with a large turquoise lotus leaf enveloping a pink lotus flower, carved on the exterior with a lotus pod, leaves, shoots and a brown leaf, together with a black crab, the footrim formed as a branch.

Chinese superbly hollowed Suzhou agate snuff bottle, carved in high-relief with an equestrian figure of a scholar riding a donkey in a continuous mountain river landscape with a viewing pavilion in the distance, his attendant leading the way holding a flowering prunus branch, amongst typical Suzhou edged rockwork, superbly carved in high-relief with prunus flowerheads in russet tones, the underside with a slightly dimpled base.

Chinese superbly hollowed spinach green jade nephrite snuff bottle, carved on both sides in relief with recessed panels, one with a fisherman seated on rockwork beside a stream, casting his rod beneath a prunus tree, the other with a man seated in a boat holding an oar above waves, beside rockwork and beneath a pine tree.

Chinese porcelain famille rose rounded pocket snuff bottle, painted on each side with a large pink peony amongst flowerheads in yellow and blue, with branches, buds and leaves in green and white, all on a black ground with an underglaze blue ruyi-head cloud band beneath the gilt rim, the flat rim unglazed.

Chinese famille verte large biscuit porcelain seated figure of an empress, wearing elaborately decorated robes with shou characters amongst flowering lotus on scrolling branches of leaves, each character supported as a bloom on an even, bright yellow glaze, her hands clasped under a ceremonial cloth with a central phoenix bird representing the empress and supporting a fruiting peach group with leaves, her moulded neck collar in relief with aubergine leaves and her elaborate head dress with high relief birds.

Chinese lavender jadeite snuff bottle of ovoid form with straight cylindrical neck, the stone of an even pale lavender tone.