A WHITE BOWL WITH TRANSPARENT LOTUS DECORATION SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG

thinly potted with wide everted sides rising from a straight foot to a slightly flared rim, delicately pierced around the body with a broad band of formal lotus scrolls filled with a transparent colourless glaze to produce the effect of lace, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue

Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d’Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 160.

Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 793.

There are two small original body lines to the rim, a tiny pinhole near the foot, but overall the bowl is in very good condition. The actual colour of the bowl is much whiter comparing to the catalogue illustration.
"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 decoration style, where the body was pierced with a delicate openwork design with tiny rice-grain shaped openings that were filled with glaze, creating this elegant, transparent lace-like effect, is in the West known as ‘grains-de-riz’ [rice grain] technique. Two similar bowls from the Alfred F. Pillsbury collection in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts were included in the exhibition Chinese Ceramics from the Prehistoric Period through Ch’ien Lung, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, 1952, cat. no. 340; a white bowl  with simpler floral decoration in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 465, pl. 147; another with a simpler scroll in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is published in John Ayers and Satō Masahiko, eds, Sekai tōji zenshū/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. XV: Shin/Ch’ing Dynasty, Tokyo, 1983, pl. 280; and a bowl decorated in this technique with flower-heads only, also in Taiwan, is included in the exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the Qing dynasty], National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 63.