A rare pair of copper-red-glazed bowls, Marks and period of Xianfeng

American Private Collection, acquired between 1971 and 1981.

Imperial wares bearing Xianfeng reign marks are notably rare. The Imperial kiln at Jingdezhen was destroyed in the fifth year of the Xianfeng reign (1855) during the Taiping Rebellion and remained unreconstructed until the Tongzhi period. This interruption in production, exacerbated by flooding in the region, severely limited the output of Imperial ceramics during the latter years of Xianfeng’s reign.

Compare a similar bowl exhibited in Imperial Porcelain of Late Qing from the Kwan Collection, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1983, cat. no. 89; and another exhibited in The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Qing Ceramics from the Collection of The Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 109; see also a closely related bowl, previously in the collection of Tang Shaoyi, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 10th July 2020, lot 3147.