A DOUCAI 'FLOWER MEDALLION' BOWL MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG

the widely flaring conical sides rising from a short straight foot to a slightly everted rim, finely and delicately painted around the exterior with four large floral medallions enclosing the flowers of the 'Four Seasons,' peony, chrysanthemum, lotus and prunus amidst a dense undergrowth of foliage and grasses, each divided by floral strapwork, the interior with a central medallion enclosing two fluttering butterflies amid flowering sprigs encircled by a double line border repeated at the rim, the base inscribed with a six-character mark in underglaze-blue within a double circle

Formerly in a Japanese Collection.

The rim a few areas of minor retouching to rim fritting, but the enamels and the rest of the body is in very good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A Yongzheng bowl of this form and design in doucai enamels, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 202, pl. 31. See also a bowl, in the William Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 12, Tokyo, 1956, pl. 64 bottom. Compare also a bowl in the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and Archaeology at the University of Durham included in Ireneus Laszlo Legeza, A Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Malcolm Macdonald Collection of Chinese Ceramics, London, 1972, pl. CXXXIX, no. 378; and one from the Paul and Helen Bernat collection sold in these rooms, 15th November 1988, lot 10.

A bowl in the Roemer Museum, Hildesheim, pencilled with the same design in underglaze-blue only, is illustrated in Ulrich Wiesner, Chinesisches Porzellan, Mainz am Rhein, 1981, pl. 45, where the author records a doucai example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Hugh Moss in By Imperial Command, Hong Kong, 1976, p. 74, notes that the 'circular panel of decoration, the subject of which defines its own limits' is first seen on wares of the Kangxi yuzhi group and then incorporated into the Yongzheng repertoire at Jingdezhen.