A pair of coral ground reverse-decorated 'lotus' bowls, Seal marks and period of Jiaqing

Collection of Sir Thomas Beaumont Hohler (1871-1946), and thence by descent.

Compare a number of related bowls, including one from the Sir Percival David Collection now preserved in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Stacey Pierson, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art: A Guide to the Collection, London, 2002, pl. 109; another published in Geng Baochang, Ming Qing ciqi jianding [Appraisal of Ming and Qing porcelain], Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 483; and a pair from the Chang Foundation and Goldschmidt and Heiniger Collection, sold twice in our Hong Kong rooms, 13th November 1990, lot 28, and 10th July 2020, lot 3131.

Bowls enamelled with this design continued to be popular in succeeding reigns but are rarely found with Jiaqing reign marks. Compare a very similar Jiaqing bowl in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty: The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 361; and another sold at Christie’s London, 4th November 2008, lot 225. Compare also examples of Daoguang mark and period, including one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Suzanne Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl. 282; and a pair from the collection of Edward T Chow (1910 - 1980), sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 152, again at Christie's London, 19th April 1983, lot 376 and again, 4th November 2010, lot 221.