This autumn season, Sotheby’s presented exquisite pieces from a renowned private collection. Though the sale failed to achieve 100% sell-through rate, several lots were sold for prices exceeding estimates. Leading the sale was an underglaze-blue, famille-rose and gilt-decorated ‘boys medallion’ vase, which sold for £519,000.
A Very Rare Underglaze-blue, Famille-rose and Gilt-Decorated 'Boys Medallion' Vase, Qianlong Seal Mark and Period
The sale realised a sell-through rate of 82%, selling 32 of 39 lots offered, It brought in a total hammer price at nearly £3.8m, surpassing the presale estimate between £2.4m-3.5m. Another point to be noted is that over one third of the items were sold to online bidders.
The sale Imperial Porcelain - A Private Collection was the second part of the same private collection. The first part was offered in Hong Kong last month and headlined by a rare famille-rose vase supported by three boys, Qianlong, which was sold for HK$15.77m (US$2m). Coincidentally, the top lot of the present also fell into a vase decorated with boys.
With a height of 18.2cm, the vase is exquisitely painted with two lively scenes of boys playing against a luxuriant underglaze-blue and gilt lotus scroll. The craftsmen have skilfully captured the children's carefree spirit through their joyful expressions and animated poses.
Su Hanchen. Children at Play in an Autumnal Garden. Song dynasty. National Palace Museum Taipei
Junkunc III
Depictions of boys at play, which represent the wish for many sons, proliferated on porcelain during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, as he was particularly fond of auspicious and amusing designs. Yingxitu (pictures of boys at play) and baizitu (pictures of hundred boys) are intimately connected with the strong desire for male offspring, who would perform ancestral sacrifices and thus endure the continuation of the family line.
The vase was previously sold at Christie’s New York in 1995. Before that, it was in the collection of Stephen Junkunc III, a renowned collector in Chinese art who owned many great porcelain examples from leading London dealers. He established a reputation for his impeccable taste for ceramics. In 1992, a rare ru example from his collection was sold for US$1.6m at Christie’s, which was a whopping price at that time.
The vase was estimated at £150,000-250,000 this time at Sotheby’s. After an intense bidding battle, the vase was sold to a room bidder for a hammer price of £420,000, which is £519,000 after premium.
A Blue and White Ming-Style ‘Persimmon’ Moonflask, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period
T.Y. Chao was a prominent Hong Kong Shipping Tycoon
The second top lot was a blue and white Ming-style ‘Persimmon’ Moonflask, Yongzheng period. Formerly belonged to the collection of T.Y. Chao, a prominent Hong Kong Shipping Tycoon, the moonflask carried an estimate of £120,000-160,000. It was hammered down at £400,000 and sold for £495,000 after premium to a telephone bidder.
The blue and white moon flask is elegantly potted with a gently flattened spherical body surmounted by a slender cylindrical neck flanked by two scroll-shaped handles. The rounded sides decorated in vibrant tones of cobalt blue with simulated heaped and piled effect.
This moonflask assumes an immediate sense of familiarity through the elegantly rendered design and shape, both of which were made to emulate historical masterpieces of the early Ming dynasty. A popular form in the early fifteenth century derived from Middle Eastern metal vessels, moonflasks experienced renewed favour during the early Qing period.
A Rare Yellow-Ground Underglaze-Blue ‘Lotus’ Archaistic Vase, Qianlong period
Catalogue of Yamanaka & Co.
Realising the third highest price of the sale was a rare yellow-ground underglaze-blue ‘lotus’ archaistic vase from the Qianlong period. With a height of 32.3cm, the vase is painted in vibrant tones of cobalt blue with meandering leafy scrolls bearing large stylised lotus blooms. Coming from the distinguished collection of Yamanaka & Co., the vase carried an estimate of £150,000-250,000 and was hammered down at £320,000. It was sold for £399,000 after premium to a telephone bidder.
The form and handles of the vase are inspired by archaistic bronze. The yellow-ground blue and white first started in the Xuande period (1426-1435), manifesting the technique which incorporates the yellow glaze of low temperature with underglaze blue of high temperature.
An example with similar form can be found in Nanjing Museum, where it has kept a flambe-glaze vase, Qianlong. It is of similar size to the one offered at Sotheby’s. The present one is decorated with yellow-ground underglaze-blue ‘lotus’, which is believed to be the only example of such form with this particular design.
A flambe-glaze vase, Qianlong. Collection of Nanjing Museum
A famille-rose ‘poppy’bowl, Yongzheng mark and period
Another notable lot was a famille-rose ‘poppy’ bowl, Yongzheng mark and period, with a diameter of 9.2 cm. The exterior is delicately enamelled with flowering poppies in shaded tones of pink and white with finely incised details. The bowl was hammer down at £170,000 and sold for £212,00 after premium, more than four times its low estimate of £50,000.
Top three and highlighted lots
A Very Rare Underglaze-Blue, Famille-Rose and Gilt-Decorated 'Boys Medallion' Vase, Qianlong Seal Mark and Period
Lot no.: 8
Height: 18.2cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).
- Christie's New York, 21st September 1995, lot 260.
Estimate: £150,000 - 250,000
Hammer price: £420,000
Price realised: £519,000
A Fine Blue and White Ming-Style 'Persimmon' Moonflask, Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng Period
Lot no.: 11
Length: 29.7cm
Provenance:
- Collection of T.Y. Chao (1912-1999).
- Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19th May 1987, lot 276.
Estimate: £120,000 - 160,000
Hammer price: £400,000
Price realised: £495,000
A Rare Yellow-Ground Underglaze-Blue "Lotus' Archaistic Vase, Qianlong Seal Mark and Period
Lot no.: 27
Height: 32.3cm
Provenance:
- Yamanaka & Company, Collection of Chinese and Other Far Eastern Art, (in liquidation under the supervision of the Alien Property Custodian of the United States of America), New York, 1943, cat. no. 1188.
Estimate: £150,000 - 250,000
Hammer price: £320,000
Price realised: £399,000
A Superb and Rare Carved Celadon-Glazed 'Peony' Vase, Qianlong Incised Seal Mark and Period
Lot no.: 17
Height: 32.4cm
Estimate: £300,000 - 500,000
Hammer price: £300,000
Price realised: £375,000
A Finely Painted and Extremely Rare Small Coral-Ground Enamelled 'Floral' Cup, Yongzheng Yuzhi Mark and Period
Lot no.: 14
Height: 6.5cm
Provenance:
- Yamanaka & Co., Inc., New York, 1st September 1938 ($20).
- Collection of Stephen Junkunc, III (d. 1978).
- Christie's New York, 21st September 1995, lot 198.
Estimate: £60,000 - 80,000
Hammer price: £300,000
Price realised: £375,000
A Rare Pair of Finely Decorated Celadon-Ground Famille-Rose 'Bajixiang' Lobed Vases, Qianlong Seal Marks and Period
Lot no.: 20
Height: 17.2、17.3cm
Estimate: £150,000 - 250,000
Hammer price: £240,000
Price realised: £300,000
A Rare Famille-Rose 'Poppy' Bowl, Yongzheng Mark and Period
Lot no.: 1
Diameter: 9.2cm
Estimate: £50,000 - 70,000
Hammer price: £170,000
Price realised: £212,500
A Rare Large Celadon-Glazed Jardiniere in the Shape of a Double-Lotus Leaf, Yongzheng Seal Mark and Period
Lot no.: 21
Length: 35.1cm
Estimate: £120,000 - 160,000
Hammer price: £120,000
Price realised: £150,000
Auction summary
Auction house: Sotheby’s London
Sale: Imperial Porcelain - A Private Collection
Sale date: 6 November 2019
Lots offered: 39
Sold: 32
Unsold: 7
Sold by lots: 82%
Sale total: £4,710,500