A fine pair of famille rose pink-ground medallion bowls

Christie’s charges a premium to the buyer on the H… Read more

The property of a lady of title The following five lots belonged to the collection of a German Countess who stayed in China during the years 1900-1903 together with her husband, a German officer. He was sent to China by the German government to participate in the combat of the Boxer rebellion, which arose in 1899. By June 1900, the rebellion became an international conflict between the Chinese rebels, now joined by the forces of the imperial army and the coalition force of the Eight Nation Alliance (British, French, German, American, Russian, Italian, Austrian and Japanese). On 7 September 1901, the Qing government was compelled to sign the Boxer Protocol giving away large amounts of the country's resources and allowing foreign presence in many areas of the country including the Legation Quarters of Beijing. These Quarters were a special area reserved for the use of each of the Eight Nation Alliance under their exclusive control. In 1900 the international forces occupied the area of the Zhongnanhai, located west of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Zhongnanhai was part of the imperial leisure garden complex with large parklands. The international forces were possibly the first "outsiders" to lay their eyes on the vast imperial treasures kept in the many pavilions and halls of this park. The objects offered here for sale were originally acquired as a result of the events and occupation following the Boxer rebellion. It is also documented that the countess obtained numerous gifts from the Dowager Empress Cixi on the occasion of several receptions which were held for the women of the foreign legations by the imperial family (see also lot 282). The couple, interested in the history and culture of China, travelled extensively within the country which is documented by the group of contemporaneous photographs offered in this sale. Some of these are particularly interesting as they show a rare insight into the social and military life of the allied troups in China at the time of the Boxer rebellion.

A fine pair of famille rose pink-ground medallion bowls

DAOGUANG SIX CHARACTER SEAL MARKS AND OF THE PERIOD

Details

A fine pair of famille rose pink-ground medallion bowls
Daoguang six character seal marks and of the period
The rounded sides painted to the exterior with four medallions enclosing flowers and tree branches, reserved on a pink graviata ground enamelled with stylised lotus and foliage, the interior in underglaze blue with a circular panel of a white hare among trees and pierced rockwork, below four blossoming plants issuing from grassy mounds
14.8 cm. diam. (2)

Special notice

Christie’s charges a premium to the buyer on the Hammer Price of each lot sold at the following rates: 29.75% of the Hammer Price of each lot up to and including €5,000, plus 23.8% of the Hammer Price between €5,001 and €400,000, plus 14.28% of any amount in excess of €400,001. Buyer’s premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.

Lot Essay

Daoguang bowls of this pattern are illustrated in the Ohlmer Collection, Catalogue, nos. 144 and 145, in the Roemer Museum, Hildesheim; by Lee, Selected Far Eastern Art in the Yale University Art Gallery, no. 389; and by Lion-Goldschmidt, Les Poteries et Porcelaines Chinoises, pl. XXVIII (D), in the Musee Guimet. A pair in the Hong Kong Museum of Art was included in their Exhibition of The Wonders of the Potters' Palette, 1984, Catalogue, no. 103; a pair from the Simon Kwan Collection was included in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Exhibition of Imperial Porcelain of Late Qing, 1983, Catalogue, no. 37; and one in National Gallery of Victoria was included in the Art Gallery of New South Wales Exhibition of Late Chinese Imperial Porcelain, 1980, Catalogue, no. 16.

A similar pair was sold in our Hong Kong Rooms, 31 October 1994, lot 675, another pair from the Simon Kwan Collection sold at Christie's Singapore, 30 March 1997, lot 270.

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