The Centenary Exhibition

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.

Chinese imperial porcelain ruby ground famille rose enamelled vase, feng er ping, with light blue and dark blue enamelled outlined openwork phoenix handles, decorated on each side with the Eight Daoist Emblems, anbaxian on a rich and even ruby-red enamel ground above a lappet band with ruyi-head terminals and a leaf band on a gently splayed foot, all beneath a yellow ground band of ruyi-heads at the gilt rim, the interior and base lined with turquoise enamel.

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.

Chinese imperial porcelain lemon-yellow ground underglaze blue decorated deep stem bowl, gao zu bei, with gently flared lipped rim and ribbed splayed foot, painted on the exterior with three fruiting branches of peach, pomegranate and finger citron, sanduo, all above lingzhi dispersed between panels of flowering camellia branches each with a bud above lingzhi, the splayed foot with crested waves. The well of the interior with a fruiting peach branch above lingzhi within two underglaze blue lines beneath a band of crested and swirling waves and prunus flowerheads all on a lemon-yellow ground.

Pair of Chinese imperial porcelain blue and white moonflasks, bian hu, each with ruyi-head terminal handles, flared rim and everted foot, painted on each side with peach-shaped relief panels of five large fruiting peaches on a singular leafy branch between a pair of bats in flight encircled by scrolling branches of lotus and camellia within underglaze blue double lines, the flat sides with a continuous scrolling branch of fruiting lingzhi between pairs of double lines, the neck painted with a band of lotus beneath ruyi-heads and a floral band with scrolling leafy branches at the rim, the foot with a continuous band of leaves and branches.