A FINE CHINESE EXPORT 'HONG' PUNCH BOWL, 1779-87 |

finely potted with a slightly tapered foot rising to deep rounded sides, the exterior painted with a continuous scene of the hongs at Canton by the Pearl River, the factories flying the Imperial Austrian, French, Swedish, British, Dutch and Danish flags, the paved waterfront bustling with European and Chinese figures, the interior painted with a central floral basket encircled with an elaborate border of further flower baskets alternating with shaped panels and flower festoons, all underneath a green and gilt husk band

Sotheby's New York, January 27, 1988, lot 277

In overall very good condition with enamels and gilding beautifully preserved, very minor expected wear and minor firing imperfections.
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 present punch bowl represents a fine example of its type. There are many different variations depicting the European hongs (factories) on the Canton waterfront, and the earliest example was produced circa 1765 and illustrated in Bredo L. Grandjean, Dansk Ostindisk Porcelæn, Copenhagen, 1965, fig. 113-114, cat. no. 107, now in the collection of M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark, with one side depicting the hongs and the other side showing the stock exchange in Copenhagen. The hongs were ultimately destroyed in 1856 by a devastating fire, and following that, the Second Opium War began. Between 1765 and the early 19th century, varied views of the hongs were recorded on porcelain, as well as other mediums including Chinese export paintings on canvas and copper. Therefore, hong bowls, in their depiction of the factories and flags, arguably relate more closely to Chinese export paintings rather than other types of Chinese export porcelain and serve as a guide to the evolution of European commerce on the Canton waterfront. In addition, while describing a very similar example in the Hodroff collection at Winterthur, illustrated in Ronald W. Fuchs II and David S. Howard, Made in China, Winterthur, 2005, pp. 138-139, cat. no. 88, the authors note the blending of painting traditions between the continuous horizontal landscape seen in Chinese handscrolls and the Western one-point perspective to create such bowls.

Identical examples are in major museums and collections, including one example in the Franks Collection at British Museum, illustrated in R.L. Hobson, The Later Ceramic Wares of China, New York, 1925, pl. LXX, fig. 3. Another example is illustrated in William R. Sargent, Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics from the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, 2012, p. 435, cat. no. 239, where the author attributes the dating of this particular type of hong bowl to between 1779-87, pointing to the design of the yellow Imperial Austrian flag with a double-headed eagle depicted on this bowl, which the hong flew only between 1779 to 1787, thus establishing the date of this design between those years. He further speculates that the monogram MT on the chest of the eagle stands for the empress of Austria, Maria Theresa (1717-80).