HONG KONG.- Bonhams Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art sale in Hong Kong on 2 June 2016 will offer fine and rare porcelain and works of art which would once have graced the Imperial palaces. They include exquisite treasures from the reigns of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors - all with impeccable provenance.

Among the fine selection of imperial porcelains and works of art from the reign of the Yongzheng emperor (1723-1735) is a pair of exceptionally rare imperial doucai waterpots, Yongzheng six-character marks and of the period, estimated at HK$ 10,000,000 – 15,000,000. The waterpots were formerly in the Jingguantang and Gerald M. Greenwald collection, exhibited on many occasions by the Min Chiu Society and in the Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong. Besides the present pair, there are only four other known examples, two in the Palace Museum, Beijing and in the Nanjing Museum, with another pair previously in the collections of C.T.Loo, Paris, Paul and Helen Bernat, Boston, and the Shimentang collection.

Another item from the Imperial ‘scholar’s desk’ is an imperial banded-agate oval brushwasher, incised Yongzheng horizontal four-character seal mark and of the period, estimated at HK$ 2,500,000 – 3,000,000. The simplicity and natural beauty of the piece reflects the Yongzheng emperor’s personal taste; it is recorded in the imperial archives that he ordered agate brushwashers and bowls to be left undecorated in order to highlight the quality of the original stone surface.

The sale also features:

• An rare iron-red and gilt-decorated ‘dragon’ hat stand, Yongzheng seal mark and of the period, estimated at HK$ 900,000 – 1,200,000, by descent from Lieutenant-Colonel T.S. Cox, who became the ‘Confidential Advisor’ to His Imperial Highness Prince Su, Governor of Beijing and uncle of the Guangxu emperor; and to His Imperial Highness Prince Qing, Head of Chinese Octroi (Customs) Department.

• An exceptionally rare imperial underglaze-blue and iron-red enamelled vase, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, estimated at HK$ 4,500,000 – 6,000,000. Previously in the T.Y. Chao and Shimentang collection, the current vase is one of only three recorded. The other two examples were formerly in the collection of Milo, 7th Baron Talbot of Malahide, Ireland. The winged kui dragons depicted on this vase are the Qianlong emperor’s reinterpretation of early Western Zhou dynasty bronzes, a manifestation of his wish to ‘restore ancient ways’ – the intrinsic values of sincerity, simplicity and happy exuberance.

• A rare imperial Ge-type vase, zun, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, estimated at HK$ 3,500,000 – 5,000,000. The vase is inspired by antiquity. The form is a contemporary innovation of the Han dynasty bonze hu shape, while the glaze is a direct reference to the celebrated Southern Song dynasty Ge glaze.

• A rare and imperial red jasper archaistic vase, Qianlong period, estimated at HK$ 500,000 – 800,000. Originally from the collection of H.R.H the Duke of Gloucester K.G., its rarity lies in the generous use of the bright red stone and its impressive size compared to the more typical much smaller carvings used for snuff bottles and archer rings.

Further vestiges of the Imperial Qing Court can be seen in a rare Imperial gilt-bronze archaistic ritual bell, bianzhong, Kangxi cast mark, dated to the 54th year corresponding to 1715 and of the period, estimated at HK$ 2,200,000 – 2,800,000. Part of a graduated set of sixteen ritual bells, this bell is heavily and thickly cast to produce the musical tone of nanlu, corresponding to the musical scale of major sixth or note ‘A’. Also impressively cast is an imperial gilt-lacquered bronze figure of Amitayus from the Kangxi period, estimated at HK$ 4,000,000 – 6,000,000. The figure is engraved on the underside with the character shi denoting the number ‘ten’, and is believed to be a limited series of imperial gilt-lacquered bronze Amitayus specially commissioned by the Kangxi emperor.