A FALANGCAI 'PEONIES AND WUFU' CORAL-GROUND DISH, QIANLONG MARK AND PERIOD The falangcai color palette of the present dish first appeared on Kangxi period yuzhi bowls, such as an example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelains with Cloisonné Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, page 4, number 2.

China, 1736-1795. Delicately potted, the shallow sides supported on a short tapered foot and rising to an everted rim. The exterior finely painted against a coral ground in rich and vibrant enamels to depict four different peony blossoms interlinked by leafy scrolls and divided by dots and flowerheads. The interior glazed white and neatly decorated in shades of iron-red above the glaze with five bats (wufu), each painted in a slightly different manner and position. The recessed base with an underglaze-blue six-character seal mark da Qing Qianlong nianzhi and of the period.

Provenance: From the collection of Captain Charles Oswald Liddell, acquired in China before 1914 and thence by descent. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Captain Charles Oswald Liddell (1854-1941) worked in China from 1877 to 1913. He married Elizabeth Birt in 1880 in Shanghai and thereby inherited Birt's Wharf there, expanding the business to Hangzhou, Tianjin, and Harbin. Liddell collaborated with A. W. Bahr in an exhibition in Shanghai in 1908, as Chairman of the North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and in writing descriptions for it, which were printed by A. W. Bahr in “Old Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art in China” in 1911. Charles Liddell had formed his collection, except for three pieces, while trading in China for nearly forty years. He purchased a number of them from two significant sources: Prince Chun, the last Regent of the Qing Dynasty, and the private secretary and adviser to Li Hong Zhang. In May 1929, Bluett offered a part of the collection, publishing a catalog of “The Liddell Collection of Old Chinese Porcelain” with 229 entries. One of two Guyuexuan bowls in this exhibition was sold to the Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone for GBP 150 and was part of the Elphinstone gift to the Percival David Foundation. The second of the two bowls was acquired by Charles Russell, and was subsequently in the collections of Barbara Hutton and Robert Chang, eventually selling in Hong Kong in 2006 for GBP 10,000,000.
Condition: Good condition with minor old wear and minimal firing irregularities, the exterior rim with four small and shallow glaze chips and associated touchups. No hidden damages whatsoever (inspected under strong blue light). For a detailed video of the dish taken under blue light, please refer department.

Weight: 161.9 g
Dimensions: Diameter 15.9 cm

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie's Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 4014
Price: HKD 400,000 or approx. EUR 68,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A rare famille rose ruby-ground 'bats' dish, Qianlong iron-red six-character seal mark and of the period
Expert remark: Compare the similar bat decoration to the interior of the dish, also painted in iron-red, the five bats however more formalized than on the present dish and encircling a shou character. Note the ruby ground, iron-red mark, and smaller size (10.6 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2022, lot 2727
Price: HKD 2,016,000 or approx. EUR 252,500 converted at the time of writing
Description: A fine and very rare enameled coral-ground famille rose 'peony' bowl, Qianlong six-character seal mark in underglaze blue and of the period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related coral ground and falangcai enamels, more specifically the near-identical leaves, also neatly painted in two distinct shades of green. Compare also the related peony blossoms and the underglaze-blue six-character seal mark. Note the different form and smaller size (11.1 cm).



乾隆款與年代珊瑚紅地粉彩牡丹五福紋盤
中國，1736-1795年。盤敞口，弧壁，淺腹，圈足。盤內施白釉。外壁珊瑚紅地，粉彩描繪纏枝盛開的牡丹四朵，色澤不一。盤内珊瑚紅色釉蝙蝠五隻。足內施白釉，青花書“大清乾隆年製”篆書款。

本盤的琺瑯彩最早運用在康熙時期的御製碗上，如北京故宮博物院收藏的一個例子，《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集‧琺瑯彩‧粉彩》，香港，1999年，頁4，編號2。

來源：Charles Oswald Liddell爵士於1914年之前購於中國，保存至今。Liddell爵士出生於蘇格蘭愛丁堡，1877 年至 1913 年在中國工作。他於 1880 年在上海與Elizabeth Birt結婚，從而繼承了那裡的Birt碼頭，並將業務擴展到杭州、天津和哈爾濱。1908年，Liddell與A. W. Bahr合作在上海舉辦展覽，擔任皇家亞洲學會華北分會主席並為其撰寫說明，由A. W. Bahr 1911 年在《中國古代瓷器與藝術品》一書中出版印刷，Charles Liddell 在中國近四十年時間裏，逐漸形成了他自己的收藏，除了三件藏品之外。他有兩個重要的古玩來源：清朝最後一位攝政王淳親王以及李洪章的私人秘書和顧問。 1929 年 5 月，Bluett 提供了部分藏品，出版了《Liddell中國古瓷器收藏》畫冊，共收錄了229件藏品 。展覽中的兩個古月軒碗，其中一個被賣給了Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone，價格為 150 英鎊，成爲Elphinstone送給 Percival David基金會的禮物之一。另一個碗被Charles Russell收購，隨後被Barbara Hutton和Robert Chang收藏，最終於 2006 年在香港以 10,000,000 英鎊的價格售出。
品相：品相極好，輕微磨損，燒製瑕疵，外緣有四小而淺的釉屑和相應修飾。沒有任何隱藏的損壞（在強藍光下檢查）。 有關在藍光下拍攝的詳細視頻，請諮詢部門。

重量：161.9 克
尺寸：直徑15.9 厘米

拍賣結果比較：
形制：相近
拍賣：香港佳士得，2011年6月1日，lot 4014
價格：HKD 400,000 （相當於今日EUR 68,500）
描述：乾隆款與年代寶石紅地粉彩五福紋盤
專家評論：比較盤内部相似的鐵紅色蝙蝠裝飾，但五隻蝙蝠的形式較現拍品更正式，並圍繞著一個壽字。請注意紅寶石地，鐵紅色的款識，以及尺寸較小 (10.6 厘米)。

拍賣結果比較：
形制：非常相近
拍賣：香港佳士得，2022年5月30日，lot 2727
價格：HKD 2,016,000（相當於今日EUR 252,500）
描述：乾隆款與年代珊瑚紅地粉彩牡丹紋碗
專家評論：比較非常相近的珊瑚地和琺瑯彩，以及幾乎相同、雙色調的綠葉 。比較相近的牡丹和底部六字款識。請注意外型不同和尺寸較小 (11.1 厘米)。