Lot 2202. A yellow-ground famille rose bowl, Qianlong four-character mark within double-squares and of the period (1736-1795); 6 1/4 in. (16 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 300,000 - HKD 400,000. Price realised HKD 500,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012

The bowl is enamelled around the exterior with four roundels, each enclosing a character forming the phrase Fori changming, 'The Eternal Light of Buddhism', reserved on a pink diaper ground within a blue border, surrounded by highly stylised lotus sprays on a bright yellow ground, wood stand, box.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20 May 1987, lot 550 

Note: The design on the present lot is recorded in the Qing Palace Archives: 'On the twenty-second day of the twelfth month in the first year of the Qianlong reign (1736)...the emperor endorsed the production of wares in accordance with the plate prototype featuring a yellow ground with green-enamelled floral motifs and the four characters Fori chang ming, applicable on any 7-cun (the Chinese measurement cun is equivalent to 3.2-3.55 cm) plate, 5-cun plate, large bowl and small bowl...' Henceforth, that design was widely fashioned on porcelain wares in the following reigns.

A bowl of this pattern from the British Rail Pension Fund was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 16 May 1989, lot 86.

Lot 2203. A fine small famille rose lobed jar and cover, Jiaqing iron-red six-character seal mark and of the period (1796-1820); 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 700,000 - HKD 1,000,000. Price realised HKD 1,940,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012

The tapering body is moulded with six lobes and painted with a scene of a soldier and eight boys at play in a garden setting, between blue ruyi bands bordering the lotus scroll-decorated pale lime-green bands on the shoulder and above the foot. The domed cover is similarly decorated below the bud finial. All of the interiors and the base surrounding the reign mark are covered in turquoise enamel, box.

Provenance: Robert Chang Collection
Sold at Christie's New York, 24 March 2004, lot 258 

Literature: An Exhibition of Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, Christie's London, 2-14 June 1993, Catalogue, no. 98. 

Exhibited: An Exhibition of Important Chinese Ceramics from the Robert Chang Collection, Christie's London, 2-14 June 1993, no. 98.

Note: The subject of boys at play was very popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and represents the wish for abundant offspring, or in particular, sons, and wealth. This type of decoration is usually arranged as a continuous frieze with the boys in a garden setting, as on this unusual small lobed jar. For a bowl with Jiaqing mark decorated with this theme see Zhongguo taoci daxi; Qingdai taoci daquan (Chinese Ceramic Series; Qing Dynasty Ceramics), Taipei, 1987-89, p. 352. A similar delicate style of painting can also be seen on a Jiaqing-marked famille rose armrest painted with a boy bringing books to a scholar seated beneath a pine tree, illustrated by H.A. Van Oort, Chinese Porcelain of the 19th and 20th centuries, The Netherlands, 1977, p. 22, pl. 10.

Ferdinando Tacca (1619-1686), Hercules Overcoming Acheloüs, circa 1640-50, estimate on request: in the region of £5 million. © Christie's Image Ltd

François Girardon, Louis XIV on Horseback, Paris, circa 1690-1699, estimate: £7-10 million. © Christie's Image Ltd

London– From the Court of King Louis XIV of France, the ‘Sun King’, Christie’s announces two of the most significant sculptures to come to the market in recent years. A unique rediscovered masterpiece by Louis XIV’s Royal sculptor François Girardon, Louis XIV on Horseback, Paris, circa 1690-1699, is believed to be the lost sculpture from the artist’s own collection, depicted in the famous engraving of the Galerie de Girardon (estimate: £7-10 million). Hercules Overcoming Acheloüs, circa 1640-50 by Florentine sculptor Ferdinando Tacca (1619-1686), was a gift from Louis XIV to his son, the Grand Dauphin, in 1681, remaining in the Royal collection until the Revolution (estimate on request: in the region of £5 million). Both works attest to the significance of Louis XIV as a connoisseur collector, celebrating the very best art from France and beyond. The works will go on view at Christie’s New York in April (the Girardon now until 20 April and both works together from 28 April to 9 May); Hong Kong (24 to 28 May) and London (30 June to 4 July), ahead of being sold in the London Exceptional Sale on 5 July during Classic Week, in July 2018.

Donald Johnston, International Head of European Sculpture at Christie’s, notes: “Not since the record breaking sale of the bronze figure by Adriaen de Vries have works of this extraordinary caliber and rarity come to the market. Directly associated with the court of the Sun King, offering these two works marks a unique opportunity for international collectors and institutions and a historic moment for Christie’s.” 

A grand and magisterial masterpiece of design and finish, by the finest sculptor of the age, Louis XIV on Horseback reflects the power of the Sun King at the height of his reign. The present work is a unique reduction of the original monument, with the King’s hand raised, holding a baton. It is the only example in private hands, with the three other surviving reductions having entered the British Royal Collection (Windsor Castle, London), Russian Royal Collection (now Hermitage, St Petersburg), and French Royal Collection (now Louvre, Paris). Commissioned for the newly created Place Louis-le-Grand (now Place Vendôme), the monument was a symbol of royal power and absolute authority until it was destroyed in the Revolution. 

Dynamic and timeless, Hercules Overcoming Acheloüs by Ferdinando Tacca represents a high point of Florentine seventeenth century bronze casting. The only example in private hands, Hercules is depicted in a ferocious battle against the god Acheloüs, who is transformed into a bull. A superb feat of compositional bravado, technical brilliance and overpowering force, it was given by Louis XIV of France to his son in 1681. The present bronze remained in the French Royal Collection until the Revolution. 

The only other known cast of Hercules Overcoming Acheloüs is in the Wallace Collection, London. Scholar Jeremy Warren has noted that the present cast is a technical advancement on the Wallace cast; the finishing is of a higher quality and the composition is more harmonious.

Lot 2214. A fine and rare small yellow-ground blue and white bowl, Wanli six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1573-1619); 3 3/8 in. (8.5 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 180,000 - HKD 220,000. Price realised HKD 400,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012

The bowl is finely potted with rounded sides rising to a slightly everted rim, painted in rich cobalt-blue with a dragon in the central medallion, surrounded on the well with a pair of phoenix divided by cloud-scrolls, the exterior with a continuous floral scroll, all against a lemon-yellow ground, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection
Sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 October 2003, lot 615. 

Note: Small bowls of such pattern on a yellow ground appear to be very rare. A blue and white example with similar decoration was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20 November 1984, lot 331. Another larger example (16 cm.) with wucai decoration is illustrated by J. Ayers, The Baur Collection Catalogue, vol. II, Geneva, 1969, pl. 196.

Lot 2236. A finely painted massive blue and white 'Landscape' Fish basin, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 23¾ in. (60.5 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 400,000 - HKD 600,000. Price realised HKD 1,100,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

The basin is sturdily potted with a relatively narrow base rising to flaring sides tapering towards a waisted neck below a lipped rim. It is finely painted in vibrant tones of blue to depict a panoramic mountainous landscape richly detailed with huts and pagodas among trees and jagged mountains, figures engaging in various activities such as riding on horses, carrying portable racks and studying, as well as fishing boats on the river, all beneath a keyfret band on the neck. The base is unglazed revealing the biscuit body. 

Lot 2237. A fine miniature blue and white 'Birds' vase, Qing dynasty, 18th century; 2 11/16 in. (6.8 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 30,000 - HKD 50,000. Price realised HKD 300,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

The baluster-shaped vase is surmounted by a columnar neck, and painted to the exterior with twenty nine birds amidst flowering plum trees and rocks. There are two further flying birds painted to the interior of the neck near the mouth rim. The base is glazed white, box.

Note: Compare to a pair of Yongzheng-marked blue and white vases of similar size and shape, one decorated with a dragon and the other with a phoenix, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 14 November 1983, lot 224.  

Lot 2240. A blue and white 'dragon' vase, gu, Kangxi period (1662-1772); 17 1/2 in. (44.5 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 400,000 - HKD 600,000. Price realised HKD 1,340,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

The vase is sturdily potted with a splayed foot rising steeply to a globular mid-section and under a wide trumpet-shaped mouth with an inturned mouth rim. The body is painted with ferocious writhing dragons in pursuit of 'flaming pearls'.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 26 October 2003, lot 147.  

Note: It is very unusual to find dragon motifs on vases of this gu-shape as they are commonly painted with landscape or floral scenes. This type of lively upright dragon is comparable to meiping vases that have each been decorated with a single dragon: the first in the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 23, no. 6; and the other from the J.M. Hu and Robert Chang collections was sold at Christie's Hong Kong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1317. Compare also to a Kangxi-marked baluster vase painted with two upright four-clawed dragons with similar fierce expressions as those on the current vase, in the Shanghai Museum Collection illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, no. 20.

Lot 2241. A fine Ming-style blue and white dish, Yongzheng six-character mark within double-circles and of the period (1723-1735); 10¾ in. (27.2 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 800,000 - HKD 1,500,000. Price realised HKD 860,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

The dish is well painted on the interior with composite blossoms borne on a leafy interlacing scroll spiralling outwards from a flowerhead in the centre. The cavetto is decorated with a meandering composite floral scroll beneath a classic scroll border, the composite scroll repeated on the reverse side, between a keyfret and classic scroll band, box.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 20 May 1987, lot 440.  

Note: The design for this dish is inspired by early 15th century examples, such as a dish excavated at Zhushan in 1982 and published in Xuande Imperial Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Taipei, 1998, pl. 92. Another example is illustrated by John A. Pope in Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, DC, 1956, pl. 34, 29.98. A Xuande-marked dish of similar design was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29 October 1991, lot 30A and again at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 May 2007, lot 1353.

Related Yongzheng dishes of similar design include a dish of the same size, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 26 April 2004, lot 1048; and a slightly larger example sold at Christie's London, 11 May 2010, lot 209.

Lot 2242. A rare large yellow-ground blue and white 'Peach' dish, Qianlong six-character seal mark and of the period (1736-1795); 10 5/8 in. (27 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 1,600,000 - HKD 2,500,000. Price realised HKD 1,940,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

Finely painted in early Ming style with a central medallion of nine peaches suspended from gnarled leafy branches within a border of double-circles, repeated below the mouth rim, the exterior with a dense interwoven convovulous scroll between double lines, all on a bright lemon-yellow ground, Japanese wood box.

Note: Other dishes of this size and design are published, such as the dish in the National Palace Museum Collection, Taipei, illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Book II, Hong Kong, 1968, pl. 29; and another in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated in Oriental Ceramics, the World's Great Collections, Kodansha Series, vol. 6, Tokyo, 1982, no. 247. Compare also to a pair of these dishes from the T. Y. Chao Collection, illustrated in Ch'ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Catalogue, 1973, no. 45, later sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19 March 1987, lot 316. Two other pairs, the first from the collection of Sir Thomas Fermor-Hesketh Collection, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2006, lot 1245; and the second pair from the Harry Nail and John Yeon Collections, was sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 2007, lot 331. A single dish from the Thomas English Cody Collection was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 3921.

Lot 2244. A fine and rare pair of blue and white 'Peony' dishes, Yongzheng six-character marks within double-circles and of the period (1723-1735); 8 1/4 in. (20.9 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 1,500,000 - HKD 2,000,000. Price realised HKD 1,820,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

Each dish is naturalistically painted in the central medallion in delicate shades of blue with two butterflies in flight above leafy branches bearing three full peony blossoms growing from pierced rockwork. The exterior is similarly decorated with chrysanthemum, hibiscus and other flowering shrubs growing from behind rocks, all within single and double-line borders, box (2).

Provenance: The T.Y. Chao Private and Family Trust Collections of Important Chinese Ceramics, Part 1, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 18 November 1986, lot 78

Exhibited: The Hong Kong Museum of Art, Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, illustrated in the Catalogue, 1978, no. 86 

Note: A Yongzheng dish of this design, from the author's collection, is illustrated by S. Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1971, pl. LXI; another pair is illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, pl. 764.

Lot 2362. A doucai'Floral' bowl, Jiaqing six-character seal mark and of the period (1796-1820); 5 11/16 in. (14.5 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 80,000 - HKD 100,000. Price realised HKD 93,750. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

The bowl is enamelled on the exterior of the deep rounded sides with six stylised lotus blooms surrounded by scrolling leafy tendrils. The primary floral band is bordered by double-lines encircling the rim and overlapping ruyi lappets at the base, Japanese wood box.

Note: Doucai bowls of this design are fashioned after the Yongzheng prototype. A pair of Yongzheng-marked examples from the collection of Paul and Helen Bernat, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 15 November 1988, lot 15. Two Jiaqing-marked examples decorated with composite flowers were sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 April 1997, lot 744. 

Lot 2363. A doucai ogee-form bowl, Jiaqing six-character seal mark and of the period (1796-1820); 8 in. (20.3 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 250,000 - HKD 350,000. Price realised HKD 250,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

The centre is decorated with a flower head encircled by eight linked alternating composite flowers below the Eight Daoist Emblems, Anbaxian, on the well, the exterior with stylised flowers and foliate scroll above a ruyi band at the foot, Japanese wood box.

Note: A pair of similar bowls was sold at Christie's New York, 16-17 September 2010, lot 1436. 

Lot 2365. A fine pink-ground famille rose'Lantern' medallion bowl, Daoguang six-character seal mark and of the period (1821-1850); 5¾ in. (14.7 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000. Price realised HKD 200,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

The bowl is well potted with rounded sides rising to a slightly flared mouth rim. The exterior is enamelled and gilded with the feng deng, the 'Lanterns of Abundance', within four medallions divided by floral sprays reserved on a sgraffiato ground. The interior is painted in underglaze-blue with a rabbit in a landscape within a medallion in the centre, surrounded by four floral sprays on the well, box.

Note: A pair of similar bowls was sold at Christie's New York, 16-17 September 2010, lot 1436. 

Lot 2367. A famille rose'Pomegranate' bowl , Daoguang six-character seal mark and of the period (1821-1850); 4 7/16 in. (11.2 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 100,000 - HKD 150,000. Price realised HKD 275,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

The bowl is finely enamelled with a coiling vine intertwined with bamboo, heavily laden with ripe pomegranates growing amidst yellow blossoms and large leaves painted in two shades of green. The design starts at the foot and continues over the mouth rim into the interior before meandering to the exterior again. The vines and bamboo stalks extend around the sides, with two colourful butterflies fluttering above, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: Acquired in the 1980s from Hirano Kotoken, Tokyo

Note: The design on the present bowl is based on a sketch sample issued by the Imperial Household Department and kept in the palace archives, as illustrated in Guanyang Yuci, Beijing, 2007, pp. 134-135, pl. 26. Bowls of such design were also made during the Jiaqing period. See for example a Jiaqing-marked bowl of almost identical size and pattern, ibid. Another closely comparable example was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1568. 

Lot 2369. A famille rose'European figures' wall vase, Qianlong six-character seal mark in iron red and of the period (1736-1795); 7 1/8 in. (18 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 300,000 - HKD 500,000. Price realised HKD 375,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

Of rectangular baluster form, the vase is decorated in famille rose palette on the body with a finely dressed European figure in purple leggings and red cloak, who is accompanied by an attendant holding a parasol. The scene is flanked on either side with a mask and ring handle above a flowering bitter gourd vine on one side, and flowering finger citrus vine on the other. Each side of the neck is further enamelled with a different floral spray, including peony, magnolia and morning glory, box.

Lot 2370. A rare famille rose inscribed scroll-form wall vase, Qing dynasty, 18th century; 6½ in. (16.5 cm.) long. Estimate HKD 600,000 - HKD 800,000. Price realised HKD 740,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

The vase is finely potted in the form of a book scroll. One end of the scroll has an opening to the vase and is enamelled with a pink diamond diaper ground. The other end of the scroll is decorated with branches bearing magnolia and inscribed with a two-line poem written in seven-character stanza. The underside is enamelled pink and pierced for suspension, box.

Lot 2371. A fine famille rose 'Bird and Flower' baluster vase, Daoguang period (1821-1850), four-character shendetang zhi mark in iron-red; 12 in. (30.5 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 1,000,000 - HKD 1,500,000. Price realised HKD 3,380,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012 

The vase is finely enamelled on the exterior with two swallows in flight above a flowering apricot tree beside ornamental rocks on a verdant ground. The body is further detailed with pomegranate flower sprays and the wannianqing plant. The mouth rim gilt and repeated in a single line on the base above the foot ring. The base is inscribed in iron-red with the hall mark Shendetang zhi, 'Made for the Hall of Cultivation of Virtue', Japanese wood box.

Provenance: An English private collection, Devon, circa 1948.

Note: The Shendetang hall mark is a dedication to the Hall for the Cultivation of Virtue, a summer residence of the Emperor Daoguang, where a range of dedicated fine porcelains was made to furnish this particular hall. See for example a vase decorated with various blossoming sprays emerging from rocks and with the same hall mark, in the Palace Museum, Beijing and illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 190.

Compare also to an arm rest similarly decorated with two swallows on a tree and dated to the Guangxu period, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, ibid., pl. 244.

Lot 2330. An extremely rare Beijing enamelled 'Landscape' vase, meiping, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 8 5/8 in. (21.9 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 1,200,000 - HKD 1,800,000. Price realised HKD 1,460,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012  

The baluster body is brightly enamelled in vivid tones of blue, green, turquoise, yellow and purple and gilt lines to depict an exquisite scene of celestial paradise, with two cranes in flight. The vase is further detailed with a female immortal aiming an arrow into a vase placed within a pavilion. She is flanked by two female attendants, and all floating on clouds. Set within an elaborate landscape entailing rocky mountains above crested waves breaking against jagged rocks growing lingzhi fungus, box.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 April 2007, lot 791.

Note: The present vase is extremely rare and represents one of the earliest examples of painted enamel on metalwork. The only known related example published to date appears to be a meiping of almost same size in the Beijing Palace Museum (fig. 1), attributed to the early Qing period and decorated with immortals in a landscape in a palette and style extremely similar to the current vase, illustrated in Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 171. These two vases share common features such as matt and slightly uneven surfaces, thick enamelling, and free painting style, and probably belong to the earlier experimental pieces made by the newly set up enamel workshop in the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Forbidden City.

A Beijing enamelled 'Immortals in a landscape' vase, meiping, early Qing period, Beijing Palace Museum.

Yang Boda in 'A Preliminary Study of Enamel-Painted Wares with Reign Mark of Kangxi', Palace Museum Journal, Beijing, 1980, p. 43, notes that there are five pieces from the Beijing Palace Museum Collection which share the characteristics of the earliest Beijing enamel wares, with attributes which are similar to the current vase such as thick enamelling, free painting style and relatively heavy metal body. This vase is therefore a very rare example of this early group of works created by the palace artisans. 

Lot 2375. A fine yellow-ground green and aubergine enamelled 'Dragon' dish, Qianlong six-character seal mark in aubergine enamel and of the period (1736-1795); 5 3/4 in. (14.5 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 200,000 - HKD 300,000. Price realised HKD 225,000. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012

The interior of the dish is incised and enamelled in aubergine and green with two five-clawed dragons contesting a 'flaming pearl' amidst flames. The exterior is decorated with four cranes in flight, divided by ruyi-clouds, box.

Lot 2372. A very rare carved biscuit model of a duck, Daoguang-Xianfeng period (1821-1861); 1¾ in. (4.2 cm.) long. Estimate HKD 40,000 - HKD 60,000. Price realised HKD 112,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2012

The unglazed duck is delicately carved with its head turning to the left, and its beak touching the left webbed foot. The plumage is finely detailed and the eyes are picked out in black, box.