.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Melons, gua, which are filled with many seeds, symbolize fertility and a wish for many sons. Together with butterflies, they signify the wish for ceaseless generations of descendants.
A very similar pair of Qianlong-marked bowls of this pattern is in the collection of the Percival David Foundation of Art, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Enamelled Wares, section 2, London, 1973, pl. X, no. 897; and in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 6, Tokyo, 1982, no. 274. Another in the collection of the Musée Guimet, is also illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, col. pl. 91. See, also, the bowl sold in our New York rooms, 24 March 2011, lot 1703 and at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 5-6 November 1996, lot 889.
A very similar pair of Qianlong-marked bowls of this pattern is in the collection of the Percival David Foundation of Art, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ch'ing Enamelled Wares, section 2, London, 1973, pl. X, no. 897; and in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 6, Tokyo, 1982, no. 274. Another in the collection of the Musée Guimet, is also illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, col. pl. 91. See, also, the bowl sold in our New York rooms, 24 March 2011, lot 1703 and at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 5-6 November 1996, lot 889.