A VERY RARE WUCAI 'DUCK AND LOTUS' BOWL QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD |

delicately potted with deep rounded sides supported on a slightly tapered foot, the exterior superbly decorated in the wucai palette depicting an aquatic scene enclosing a pair of mandarin ducks swimming amidst large undulating lotus leaves with detailed veins and edges and other aquatic plants, surrounded by three other pairs of various birds, with a further wagtail resting on a pierced rockwork, all above a band of scrolls and between double-line borders

Collection of Iver Munthe Daae (1845-1924).
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1st November 1994, lot 68.
S. Marchant & Son, London, 24th March 1997.
An American private collection.
Christie's New York, 18th September 2014, lot 835.

Qing Porcelain from Private Collections, Marchant, London, 2015, cat. no. 24.

There is light general surface wear and a firing crack to the foot. The bowl is otherwise in 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."

A closely related bowl, from the H. B. Harris Bequest, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is illustrated in John Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, pl. 203, in Soame Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain. The Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1912), London, 1951, pl. LVII, no. 2, and also included in Lu Zhang Shen, Passion for Porcelain. Masterpieces of Ceramics from the British Museum and The Victoria and Albert Museum, Beijing, 2012, pl. 139, where the author notes that "The motif of mandarin ducks in a pond is a popular subject on Chinese porcelain. The association of mandarin ducks (yuanyang) and lotus plants has a particularly auspicious meaning symbolising harmonious marriage and many sons. The two words for lotus (he and lian) are homophones for 'harmony' (he) and 'continuous' (lian)". A closely related bowl, from the collection of Hirota Matsushige, in the Tokyo National Museum, is published in Illustrated Catalogue of Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics, vol. II, Tokyo, 1990, pl. 622. See also a shallow bowl of similar design, but with an apocryphal Chenghua mark, illustrated in Wang Qingzheng, Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 102; an imperial birthday dish, reputedly made for the Kangxi Emperor’s sixtieth birthday corresponding to 1713, from the Grandidier Collection, in the Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, col. pl. 35; and another from the Sir Percival David collection, now in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Rosemary E. Scott, Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration. Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, pl. 124.

Iver Munthe Daae (1845-1924) was a Norwegian businessman and eminent sinologist who served for over 20 years in the Chinese Maritime Custom Service, 1867-1888; during this period he built up a fine collection of Chinese ceramics and works of art, of which a large part is now in the Kunstindustrimuseet in Oslo. He was well-known for his high reputation in China and his friendship with the distinguished statesman, Li Hung Chang. Of the honorary titles he received from his work in China, the most important was his appointment to Mandarin of the third degree. He received this title in the 3rd year of the Guangxu period (1877), a title rarely given to foreigners. After he retired to Norway in 1907, he became a successful industrialist and continued his career as a sinologist.