A CHINESE EXPORT PORTRAIT WASTE BOWL AND A TEABOWL circa 1740-45

each painted en grisaille, the front and reverse of the bowl with a bust-length portrait of Martin Luther clasping a quill and a book within an oval panel, the sides with a large blossom issuing scrolling foliage and flowering vines, and the interior with a central gilt sprig and a border of gilt blossoms and foliate scrolls around the rim; and the teabowl with a half-length portrait within an oval panel on the front and a coat of arms bisecting the inscription PETRUS BOUDAAN on the reverse beneath a gilt Meisseneque scrollwork border around the rim.  The teabowl rim with a minuscule chip.

(the waste bowl) Sold, Sotheby's, Monte Carlo, February 13, 1983, lot 270 (a 17-piece tea service)
(the teabowl) Sold, Sotheby's, London, December 15, 1970, lot 151 or 152
Mrs. Helen Glatz, London

(the waste bowl) San Francisco, Fall Antiques Show, 1995

Wear to the gilding on the edge of the rim of bowl; slight wear to gilding on rim edge and on lacy border of teabowl.
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.

The portrait of Martin Luther (1483-1546) on the bowl in this lot probably was adapted from a print based on the same source as the "engraving by the Dutch artist Frans Brun (active 1627-48), which was used on the title page of a Dutch Lutheran Bible,...known as Visscher's Bible, published in Amsterdam [in] 1648," and illustrated by Krahl and Harrison-Hall, p. 120, fig. 50a.  A teabowl and saucer with identical Martin Luther and floral decoration are illustrated by Beurdeley, p. 206, cat. 238; and Veiga, p. 139, pl. 110.  Another saucer is illustrated by Hervouët and Bruneau, p. 272, no. 11.45; and a teapot is illustrated by Howard and Ayers, Vol. I, p. 253, no. 247, who suggest that wares of this subject may have been made to commemorate the bicentenary of Luther's death, and almost certainly were made for the Protestant market in Holland, where his teachings were so influential.

A Petrus Boudaan (or Pieter Boudaen [1666-1734]) saucer is illustrated by Kroes, p. 70, pl. LXXXIII, who also illustrates on p. 299, cat. no. 215, a teabowl and saucer from this service along with the print, no. 214b by Petrus Schenck (1698-1775) after a painting by Frederik Ottens (dates unknown, but working in Amsterdam and Delft in the early 18^th century), with the comment that they are "part of a tea service of which only tea cups and saucers have been recorded, about 20 pieces altogether."  A pair of teabowls and saucers from this service was in the collection of Angelo Castelo Branco Cerquiera Caldas, sold at Sotheby's in London on May 8, 1990, lot 75.

A saucer from a differently bordered tea service decorated with a portrait of Petrus Boudaan is illustrated by Hervouët and Bruneau, p. 276, no. 11.54, and the roundel enclosing the portrait is inscribed PETRUS BOUDAAN Ecclesiastes Amstelodamensis, referring to his influence as a pastor and sermon-giver in Rÿnsburg, Utrecht and Amsterdam, where he was buried in the Oude Kerk in 1734.  A tea canister also from a differently bordered service is illustrated by Howard and Ayers, Vol. I, p. 255, no. 250.