A rare yellow-ground green-enameled famille-rose 'bats and cloud' bowl, Mark and period of Yongzheng

Collection of John Oswald Liddell (1858-1918), and thence by descent.

Finely thrown with a splayed foot and steeply rounded form, this bowl exudes a sense of imperial elegance and is among the highest quality of porcelain produced by the Imperial Workshop under the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1722-1735). However, this piece is more than just technically fine, it also represents a rare feat of innovation.

From as early as the Tang dynasty, artisans had experimented with the combination of yellow, green and white glazing. Known as sancai or the 'three colors', this glazing scheme became a staple of the pottery studio and was adopted and adapted to match ever-improving firing technologies. Even by the time porcelain production began at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, the palette of sancai was never abandoned. Usually without the inclusion of white slip, vibrant patterns of green enamels on a yellow ground – particularly those featuring five-clawed dragons among the clouds – were a rare but treasured feature of Ming and Qing imperial collections. 

The present lot, however, takes things one step further. Adding to the sancai palette with overglaze enamels from the famille rose palette, the potter lends the design of twelve bats, ribbons and gourds a remarkable sense of vibrancy and naturalism. The red enamel pooling over the white slip below renders the bats in a variegated pink hue, while splotches on the pale-green gourds lend them a lifelike depth. This combination of glazes is extremely rare and was only produced during Yongzheng's brief reign. Only one other known design from the Yongzheng period shares this color scheme, namely a pattern of cranes carrying the emblems of the Eight Immortals; compare a bowl from the H.M. Knight Collection, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 15th November 1983, lot 263 and illustrated in Chinese Porcelain: The S.C Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1987, cat. no. 101, which quotes Geng Baochang calling this variety 'a new type of wucai ('five colors')'.

This bowl is also imbued with auspicious symbolism. A homophone of the word fu, meaning 'good fortune,' bats are a common motif in Chinese art said to grant the owner success. Similarly, a rebus for good fortune and rank (fulu), double gourds (hulu) are also a commonly used symbol and associated with the life-giving magic of the Immortals who are often depicted carrying them.

A very similar bowl in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing has been widely published including in Qing Porcelain of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Periods from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 67 and The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 83. Compare also a bowl from the Constantinidi Collection, sold in our London rooms, 8th July 1947, lot 24 and illustrated in Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain: The Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1912), London, 1951, pl. LXIX, no. 3; and another from the collection of the British Rail Pension Fund, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 16th May 1989, lot 78, and again, 11th July 2020, lot 3620.

John Oswald Liddell (1858-1918) was the brother of Captain Charles Oswald Liddell (b. 1851). The brothers are known for their joint venture (Liddell Bros. & Co.) in Shanghai in the late 19th century. Both John and Charles were avid collectors of Chinese art. Charles O. Liddell lived in China from 1877 to 1913. During these years he acquired porcelains from the collections of Yikuang, Fourth Prince Qing, the last Regent of the Qing dynasty, and from the private secretary and adviser of Li Hongzhang, influential statesman and diplomat around the same time. Upon his return to England he settled in Wales, where he added distinct Asian-inspired design to an ancient manor house, Shirenewton Hall, by planting a Japanese-style garden with East Asian plants, erecting Oriental pavilions, and installing a large Chinese temple bell on the lawn. His collection was largely sold by Bluett & Sons, London, in 1929. John O. Liddell also formed his own collection of Chinese art, although the collection was less well-known to the public. After John passed away, the collection remained in the family and was inherited by the descendants. The pair to this bowl, also from the John Oswald Liddell collection, is offered as lot 11 in this sale.