A FINE PAIR OF YELLOW-GROUND FAMILLE-ROSE 'MEDALLION' BOWLS SEAL MARKS AND PERIOD OF DAOGUANG

each of rounded form with a slightly flared rim rising from a staight foot, finely painted on the exterior with four roundels of seasonal landscape scenes, each painted in enamels of famille rose and grisaille, all reserved on a yellow sgraffiato ground interspersed with formal flower motifs in polychrome enamels, the interior painted with a formal colourful rosette with gilding, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1773.

The overall condition is excellent with the enamels all well preserved.
"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."

This medallion design first appeared in the Qianlong period (AD 1736-95) and is also known from the Jiaqing reign (AD 1796-1820), but became really popular only under the Daoguang Emperor (r. AD 1821-50). Medallion bowls come with animal, flower, bird-and-flower, precious object and figure scenes in the medallions, but those with seasonal landscapes are particularly sensitively painted; they can also have a light blue or ruby-red ground.

A pair of Daoguang bowls of this design in the Hong Kong Museum of Art was included in the Museum's exhibition The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Hong Kong, 1984-5, cat. no. 102; and a single bowl in the British Museum, London, is published in Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain: The Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1912), London, 1951, pl. CXIII bottom right. For a Qianlong prototype of this design compare a bowl in the Shanghai Museum, in Zhongguo taoci quanji [Complete series on Chinese ceramics], Shanghai, 1999-2000, vol. 15, pl. 40, illustrated together with a blue-ground example, pl. 43; and a single Jiaqing example of this design, which had entered the collection of Sir Walter Fane in the 19th century, was sold in our London rooms, 10th November 2004, lot 668.