A CHINESE EXPORT HUNTING PUNCH BOWL circa 1785-90

painted around the exterior with a continuous scene separated by trees into two views, one depicting the hunt gathering in the morning, and the other with the huntsmen and hounds surrounding the captured fox beneath an underglaze-blue trellis diaper border edged with spearheads showing traces of gilding around the rim and repeated on the interior rim above a central scene of two sportsmen and their pack, one man aiming at a pheasant in a tree.  Minor chip.

Sold, Sotheby's, London, April 20, 1971, lot 181
Property of a Collector, sold, Christie's, New York, January 29, 1980, lot 148
Sylvia Tearston Antiques, New York

Shallow 3/8 inch chip on the upper edge of the rim at 5:30 and another at 8:30, few other tiny frits to rim, gilding has worn off underglaze blue borders, 1mm chip on inner rim edge at 11 o'clock, minor speckling.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Both sides of a punch bowl decorated with the same scenes are illustrated by Hervouët and Bruneau, p. 77, no. 3.32.  A differently bordered but similarly decorated punch bowl is illustrated by Phillips, p. 186, pl. 88; and another identical to that example is illustrated by Palmer, p. 125, color pl. 13, who also illustrates the center of the interior inscribed SUCCESS TO THE SOUTHERN HUNT encircling the initials DW, and remarks that "fox hunting had been popular in the American South since colonial days, and several hunt bowls are known that have Southern histories," although this bowl equally could have been ordered for an English client, particularly in light of the initials DW, which Ms. Palmer asserts are "probably [those of] the master of the 'southern hunt' for which [that] bowl was made," although it seems more than coincidental that the hunting bowl in the preceding lot also is initialed DW.

An identical punch bowl was sold at Sotheby's in London on February 2, 1993, lot 172.