A FINE AND RARE DOUCAI 'PHEASANT' BOWL MARK AND PERIOD OF KANGXI

the deep rounded sides resting on a straight foot, superbly decorated around the exterior in washes of underglaze blue, underglaze red, and contrasting coloured enamels, with a continuous scene of two pheasants perched on rocks surrounded by lush branches of chrysanthemum and peony bearing large yellow, iron-red or pale green blossoms, together with a magnolia tree on one side and a flowering prunus on the other, the birds detailed with blue and green plumage, crests and long striated red tail feathers, the reverse with two songbirds painted in underglaze red and blue fluttering above a palmate leaf, all between double-line borders encircling the rim and foot, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within double circles

A private English collection.

There is one small iron spot around the exterior, a small glaze gap, and light scratches to the surface glaze on the interior but otherwise the bowl 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."

The painterly style of the bird decoration found on the present bowl is attractive and displays characteristics seen on contemporary ink paintings depicting birds perched on rocks. While it is a rare piece, two similar bowls are recorded from the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing; one illustrated in Yeh Pei-Lang, Gems of the Doucai, Taipei, 1993, pl. 68, and in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 209, and the other included in Gugong Bowuyuan cang Qingdai yuyao ciqi,
[ Qing dynasty porcelains from the Imperial kilns preserved in the Palace Museum], vol. 1, Beijing, 2005, pl. 29.

The motif seen on the present bowl continued to be used by Yongzheng potters who adapted it to suit contemporary taste by depicting two swallows, one perched on a foliate peony branch and one in flight, as seen on a bowl in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World’s Great Collections, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, col. pl. 65, with a matching cover; another in the Shanghai Museum included in Chugoku toji zenshu, vol. 21, Kyoto, 1981, pl. 104; and a third in the British Museum, London, published in R.L. Hobson, The Later Ceramic Wares of China, London, 1925, pl. LV, fig. 1. See also a similar pair of Yongzheng marked bowls, sold Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 27th October 1972, lot 128.