Lot Essay
Bowls of this type decorated in doucai enamels are extremely rare. Only three other pairs of doucai bowls of this pattern appear to have been sold at auction, a pair at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20 November 1984, lot 501; a further pair at Christie's London, 4 December 1995, lot 153; and a pair first sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 October 1994, lot 617, and again 29 May 2007, lot 617.
Blue and white bowls of this pattern are more common and were produced throughout the Qing dynasty. See a single Yongzheng-marked blue and white bowl similarly painted on the exterior, but with Shoulao and his deer in the interior roundel, from the collection of Sir Harry Garner, illustrated by S. Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1971, pl.LX
Blue and white bowls of this pattern are more common and were produced throughout the Qing dynasty. See a single Yongzheng-marked blue and white bowl similarly painted on the exterior, but with Shoulao and his deer in the interior roundel, from the collection of Sir Harry Garner, illustrated by S. Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1971, pl.LX