Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

A rare doucai 'floral bouquet' bowl Qianlong seal mark and of the period image 1
A rare doucai 'floral bouquet' bowl Qianlong seal mark and of the period image 2
Lot 111

A rare doucai 'floral bouquet' bowl
Qianlong seal mark and of the period

16 May 2019, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £9,437.50 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

A rare doucai 'floral bouquet' bowl

Qianlong seal mark and of the period
Delicately potted with deep rounded sides rising from a short straight foot to a slightly everted rim, the exterior finely enamelled with blossoming floral sprays encircled by an elaborate and dense chains of interlocking C-scroll vines, all below a band of trefoils around the rim, the interior enamelled with a roundel of aster and leafy sprigs in vivid tones of red, blue, yellow, green and aubergine. 15.3cm (6in) diam.

Footnotes

清乾隆 鬥彩花卉貫套紋盌
青花「大清乾隆年製」篆書款

Provenance: Thomas Torrance (1871–1959), and thence by descent

來源:陶然士(1871-1959)收藏,並由後人保存迄今

Thomas Torrance, born in Shotts, Scotland, was a Protestant missionary who went to China in 1895. He was first sent to Chengdu by the China Inland Mission (CIM) and stayed in Western Sichuan from 1896 to 1910. He left for Scotland in 1910 but returned to Sichuan with the American Bible Society shortly after. He married Annie Elizabeth Sharp (1883–1980) of the CIM in 1911. Whilst travelling deep into Sichuan and the foothills of the Himalayas, he came across the Qiang people, about whom he wrote extensively and whom he believed to belong to the Lost Tribes of Israel; the Selected Works of Thomas Torrance, Chengdu, 2016, p.234. He was also instrumental in establishing the West China Union University Archaeological Museum. He finally left China in 1934 to return to Scotland.

The ornate and lively pattern found on the present lot was originally designed during the Yongzheng period and reproduced by successive Qing emperors. See two Yongzheng prototypes in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, pls.224-25.

Compare with a similar doucai bowl, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, which was sold at Bonhams San Francisco, 16 December 2014, lot 8334.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

Mille Miglia eligible 1930 Lancia Dilambda 1st Series Sports Tourer

Chanel: a Lilac Aged Calfskin 'Kelly' Mini Bag Spring 2024

1931 Invicta 4.5-Litre S-Type Low Chassis Sports

2012 Bentley Mulsanne Saloon

The ex-Earls Court Motor Show 1968 Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 Coupé

49 kilometres from new 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS Targa Coupé

Chanel: a Navy Blue Crocodile Camellia Mini Flap Bag 2017-18

Chanel: a Simulated Pearl Necklace and Earring Suite Collection 26, Autumn/Winter 1991

Hermès: a Nata Swift Leather In-and-Out Retourne Kelly 25 Limited Edition, 2022

Hermès: a Shiny Miel Crocodile Sellier Kelly 32 2012

Hermès: a Rose Pourpre Epsom Leather Sellier Kelly 28 2018

Chanel: a Crystal and Simulated Pearl Long Necklace 1990s

Emanuele Pantanella: a Carved Hardwood 'Toucan' Clutch Bag 1990s

Hermès: a Shiny Black Niloticus Crocodile Sellier Kelly 32 1997

Offered from an important overseas collection 1974 Ferrari 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer

Hermès: a Bleu Saphir Niloticus Lizard Birkin 25 2018

Hermès: a Bleu Frida Chamkila Chevre Leather Mirror Constance 18 2023

Property of a deceased's estate 1972 De Tomaso Mangusta Coupé