TipToe through the Tulipieres by Masterart

TIPTOE THROUGH THE TULIPIÈRES

Written and Researched by WILLIAM MOTLEY

COHEN & COHEN PO BOX 366 REIGATE RH2 2BB Tel:+44 (0) 1737 242180 Fax: +44 (0) 1737 226236 Email: info@cohenandcohen.co.uk Website: www.cohenandcohen.co.uk

Published by Cohen & Cohen Photographs by Brad Flowers and Dairy Digital Imaging Printed and bound by CA Design

FOREWORD After a brief spell in the country we have found a new home in the Porcelain Room at Partridge Fine Art in New Bond Street and a more beautiful setting would be hard to find. I would urge all our clients to visit and see Chinese export porcelain in the setting for which it was always intended. Nonetheless, our globetrotting continues and this year’s catalogue exhibition will be at Kentshire Galleries, 700 Madison Avenue (at 62nd Street) New York. This will be followed by the New York Ceramics Fair in January, The American International Fine Arts Fair in Palm Beach in February and TEFAF Maastricht in March after which we will return at full strength to London. During the current economic turmoil it is instructive to look back in time and note once again how history teaches us nothing. One of this year’s historical themes, inspired by the rare pair of tulipières featured on the cover, is the Great Tulip Boom in the Netherlands during the 17th century when huge fortunes were made, and subsequently lost, speculating on tulips. The tulipières come from an important US collection that represents a substantial portion of this year’s catalogue and includes a selection of Imperial cloisonné from the eighteenth century. We have managed, this year, to acquire two examples of one of the rarest of Portuguese armorials, that of Pedro Vaz Soares Bacelar, the iron red and gilt version of which is previously unrecorded. Another exciting discovery was the hunt bowl. This is a piece with painting of exceptional quality, which took me back thirty years to another bowl I purchased which showed European archers at practice. I realised immediately that this example had to have come from the same workshop and that this workshop must have specialised in European sporting subjects made in small numbers for buyers prepared to pay for the very best. Other highlights are the Pronk 'Doctor’s Visit' cistern and basin, one of the tiny number of complete sets in existence and the large wall plaque following Delft form but with Chinese taste decoration. There are three massive chargers each very different from the others apart from their unusual size, a pair of lady candle holders with particularly fine enamelling and a wonderful pair of large clay nodding head figures that are among the best we have seen. Also of note is a nineteenth century 'Hong Bowl' with the Hong Panels on the interior and with the US Hong flying the Stars and Stripes. As ever the catalogue would be a poor thing without the research and input of Will Motley who is forced into the life of a hermit during its preparation. Photography is by Dairy Digital Imaging and Brad Flowers and thanks are due to Timothy Cox at the British Sporting Art Trust, Professor Ted Pietsch at the University of Washington, Seattle and Jack Randall at the Hawaii Biological Survey. Michael & Ewa Cohen

1 Blue and White Sleeve Vase Chongzhen (1628-1644) Height: 18 ¼ inches (46.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A blue and white transitional sleeve vase painted with a scene of an emperor standing beneath a parasol held by an attendant, another figure kneeling before him offering a tethered waterbuffalo. This vase illustrates a scene from an early Daoist text Zhuangzi (3rd Century BC), in the Chapter Tian di (Heaven and Earth) thoughout which the theme of the ‘Emperor and the Hermit’ is explored. The Emperor here is Yu, the founder of the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256BC) who has ventured out in his chariot and approaches the hermit Bocheng Zigao. Bocheng had been a high ranking Civil Servant under the previous Shang dynasty and had resigned after the change of regime, to tend his buffalo in the fields. The Emperor is asking the hermit to return to work for him but Bocheng rejects the offer and denounces the new Zhou rulers before returning to his agricultural labours. This vase was made in the Transitional period (mid-seventeenth century) during which the Ming Dynasty collapsed and the Manchu invaders from the North were establishing the Qing rule. At this time the Imperial kilns were destroyed and porcelain production was dispersed among many independent kilns and workshops, with no political control. In this context the political resonance of Bocheng’s story would have been immediately obvious to many high status Chinese contemplating the change of regime. References: Ströber 2001, p32, No 9, a pair of similar vases with this scene; Scheurleer 1974, No 52, another almost identical to this; Butler 1990, Nos 99 & 35, vases with the same same scene; Little 1984, No 20, brushpot with this scene.

2 Blue and White Dish Kangxi, c. 1690 French Market Diameter: 13 ¼ inches (33.5cm) A rare blue and white charger decorated with a central group of European musicians, after an original print by Nicolas and Robert Bonnart, within a border of eight landscape panels. The image here is a very early example of a European print used in China to create images on porcelain designed to appeal to a European market. A small range of wares in blue and white have drawings similar to this, with figures in the dress style of the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV of France. This scene is called Symphonie du tympanum, du luth et de la flûte d’Allemagne, by Robert Bonnart and engraved by his brother Nicholas (1646-1718). The lady playing the tympanum has a coiffure that is à la Mode de Fontanges, after Marie de Roussille (1661– 1681) who was made a Duchess and pregnant by Louis XIV. She lost the child and retired to a nunnery where she soon died, presumed poisoned by the Marquise de Montespan another of the King’s mistresses. The Duchess wore her hair high in this manner and it became all the rage for a period in the 1680s.

The laws of morals and the laws of music are the same. Zoltan Kodaly

Music in the soul can be heard by the universe. Lao Tzu

I love Wagner, but the music I prefer is that of a cat hung up by its tail outside a window and trying to stick to the panes of glass with its claws. Charles Baudelaire

References: Hervouët & Bruneau 1986, p68, No 3.13, a blue and white vase with a man in French style wig, holding a falcon, c. 1700; Buerdeley 1962, p27, a blue and white dish of the same period with similarly coiffured French figures on a terrace; Howard 1994, p41, an examples of this dish and another of the ladies on a terrace; Howard & Ayers, p77, another example and an illustration of the engraving; Lloyd Hyde 1964, plate XV, No 5, another dish; Krahl & Harrison Hall 1994, pl 20, another; Wirgin, 1998, p114, vase with three roundels of ladies in similar dress; Shimizu & Chabanne 2003, p203, No 154, another; Mézin 2002, p47, No 22, a plate with French figures on a terrace & p48, No 23, a charger of this type.

Symphonie du tympanum, du luth et de la flûte d’Allemagne, by Robert Bonnart and engraved by his brother Nicholas (1646-1718)

3 Pair of Tulipières Kangxi, c. 1700 Dutch Market Height: 16 ½ inches (42cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A rare pair of blue and white tulip vases after delft originals, each formed in two parts as a tall pointed spire on a waisted plinth, the spire arranged in three tiers each with four mask shaped flower holders, raised on lion paw feet with birds beneath, the plinth painted with panels of cherubim and putti surrounded by flowers and foliage, on four pad feet, one with pseudo delft monogram on the base.

They were beautiful, varied, sensual and had a whiff of the harem about them. The craze advanced, initially driven by connoisseurs and scholars and then by skilled growers (it takes seven years for a tulip The mark of Adriaen Kocx seed to become a flower-producon the base of one vase ing bulb). And then the speculators and traders moved in, seizing upon the bulbs with the recklessness of Wall Street traders chasing collateralised debt obligations. By the early 1630s a madness had gripped the Dutch people and in 1634 one bulb of the Viceroy type sold for 2500 florins (a fat sheep cost 10 florins). In 1635 a sailor visited a silk merchant to deliver important news. He was rewarded with a parcel of red herring for his breakfast. Before leaving, and being partial to onions, he took one that he considered out of place on the counter among the silks. The merchant discovered his loss a little later and searched everywhere, eventually locating the sailor at the quay, chewing on the last morsel of his meal. The bulb of Semper Augustus had been worth 3,000 florins, enough to pay an entire ship’s crew for a year. In another instance an eccentric travelling English botanist cheerfully dissected a curious onion specimen that he found in the conservatory of his wealthy Dutch host. The owner had the man thrown in prison and he was not released until he had paid the full price of his experiment (an Admiral van der Eyck at 4,000 fl). This peaked in 1636-7 when single tulip bulbs fetched even larger prices, some selling for the price of a house. The spot market, selling of actual bulbs, was limited to the summer when bulbs could be taken out of the ground, so a futures market developed with contracts for bulb delivery bought and sold; short selling complicated the market and was banned in 1636. On Feb 3rd 1637 the price peaked, then the bubble burst and by April prices had dropped to 5% of two months before; many were ruined.

These are modelled after originals in Dutch delft by Adriaen Kocx (fl. 1686-1701) from the De Grieksche A factory, which specialised in these items, of which a large pair are at Hampton Court, made for King William III and Queen Mary. The obelisk shape is associated with classical antiquity and is also reminiscent of Chinese pagodas, so it combines elements of exotic architectural styles to complement an exotic flower. The delft forms are also derived from Moresque spouted flower holders from the Middle East and the cherubim and masks round the spouts follow Italian maolica. Copies in Chinese export porcelain are very rare and these are faithfully copied - even to the extent of having the AK mark of Adriaen Kocx on the base; other Chinese pieces are known with this mark, mainly small vases and a cake stand. Another pair are known in the collection of Earl Spencer at Althorp House and a silver mounted pair appeared at auction in 1986. The tulip has become strongly associated with Holland but it was only in the late sixteenth century that it arrived, probably from Constantinople to Augsburg circa 1550, thence to Holland and arriving in England around 1600. The name tulip derives from a Turkish word for the cloth of turbans, and they quickly became fashionable and highly prized, with many varieties increasing in prices. The poet Abraham Cowley (16181667) described them: The tulip next appeared, all over gay Two examples of Delft tulipières, the But wanton, full of pride, and full of play. top one with AK mark.

References: Jörg 1984, p76, No 33, a single example, with AK mark on base, from the the Groninger Museum; Scheurleer 1974, No 108, a single; Gyllensvärd 1990, p65, fig 112, a pair, possibly this pair; Mackay, Charles 1841 Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds; Pavord, Anna 1999, The Tulip.

4 Charger Kangxi, c. 1710 Dutch Market Diameter: 21 ½ inches (54.5cm) A large Chinese Imari charger decorated with overlapping panels, one with a bird perched on a branch of prunus, others with lotus, chrysanthemum and pagodas in a rocky landscape, all reserved on a ground of scrolling foliage in underglaze blue. This is an exceptionally large charger of very good quality. The design copies a Japanese style and follows large Imari pallette chargers made in Japan in the late seventeenth century. Japanese Imari was produced in various kilns at Arita in Japan and was then exported to Europe via Nagasaki through the port of Imari on the island of Kyushu. It was immediately popular when it arrived in

Europe at the end of the seventeenth century. The Japanese porcelain industry was growing fast in the seventeenth century and had exploited the instability in China during the transitional period after the end of the Ming dynasty, with many of the Dutch traders switching to Japan. However after the re-establishing of the kilns at Jingdezhen by the Emperor Kangxi in 1682, Chinese porcelain became commercially available in large quantities for export and was cheaper than the Japanese. The Chinese copied other styles promiscuously and developed many versions of the Imari palette: underglaze blue and overglaze gilt and rouge-de-fer - the underglaze blue being painted first at the kilns in Jingdezhen and then the other colours added over the glaze after firing, either in Jingdezhen or, later in the eighteenth century, at the workshops in Canton prior to export. Chinese Imari is generally characterised by slightly softer colouration and less dense decoration. Reference: Wirgin, 1998, p56, a charger in similar style and colouring.

5 Pair of Vases Kangxi, c. 1700 European market Height: 12 inches (30.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A pair of square section triple gourd vases painted in underglaze blue and white with landscapes and precious objects, the flared rim with a waveform border on the inside.

The shape is inspired by a gourd, a symbolic plant in Chinese art. The dried pericarp can be used as a container and has become associated with mystical and religious figures such as the Daoist immortal Li Tieguai. They symbolise longevity, medicine, magic and science. The double gourd represents the unity between heaven and earth - the upper part being heaven and the lower being earth.

6 Armorial Dinner Plate Kangxi, c. 1710 Portuguese Market Diameter: 8 ½ inches (21.5cm) A very rare small dinner plate enamelled in rouge-de-fer and gold with a central armorial shield, surrounded by scrolling vine with clusters of grapes, the cavetto with floral reserves and chrysanthemums on a swastika trellis ground. The arms have recently been identified as those of Pedro Vaz Soares Bacelar, born circa 1645 (or in another text 1680), the son of Duarte Claudio Huet and Constança Malheiro Pereira Bacelar Sotomaior. Constança was the daughter of Marcos Malheiro Pereira Bacelar & Helena de Meireles Sotomaior, Marcos was Knight of the Order of Christ and General of the Minho army and significantly involved in paper manufacture in the city of Braga. Pedro was probably named after his 4 x great uncle, Pedro Vaz Bacelar who became Friar Geronimo.

Pedro was an Infantry Captain and adventurer in India and seems to have travelled widely in the Portuguese colonies, becoming Arms of Bacelar (Portugal) Governor of Mombasa Fort. He married Maria Cyrne (her third marriage - she had first married Rodrigues Garcia de Tavora in India and then Roque Pacheco Corte-Real). They had one son recorded, Carlos Vaz Cyrne who died without issue. The arms here and in the next item are loosely drawn and the crest has become a deer rather than a lion or leopard with a vine leaf on its head. The blue and white example has been previously published, but was then unidentified. This iron-red version has not been published before. The use of scrolling vine in the decoration is a feature of porcelain made for the Portugues Market in this period. References: Cohen & Cohen p5, a blue and white plate; Castro 2007, p107, the same blue and white plate with attribution of these arms; Felgueiras Gayo Carvalhos de Basto 1989, Nobiliário das Famílias de Portugal, Braga, 2nd Edition, Vol II, p357, genealogy of this family.

7 Blue and White Armorial Plate Kangxi, c. 1690 Portuguese Market Diameter: 8 ½ inches (21.5cm)

A very rare blue and white dinner plate with a central armorial shield, surrounded by scrolling vine with clusters of grapes, the cavetto with floral reserves and chrysanthemums on a swastika trellis ground.

References: Cohen & Cohen (1999) p5, another blue and white example; Castro 2007, p107, the plate from the Cohen 1999 catalogue and an attribution of the arms.

This extremely rare plate has the Portuguese arms of Bacelares or Bacelar and is from one of only a small group of Kangxi blue and white Portuguese armorial services.

8 Pair of Rouleau Vases Kangxi, c. 1700 European Market Height: 18 ¼ inches (46cm) Provenance: a private American collection; formerly in the Price Collection, purchased from Frank Partridge & Sons Ltd in 1947. A fine pair of rouleau vases painted in famille verte enamels with panels of animals in landscapes reserved on an elaborate ground of butterflies and flowers, the shoulder with butterfly panels reserved on a trellis diaper, the neck with flower panels on a green cell ground. Reference: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum (38) Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, 1999, p81, No 74, a vase with similar enamelling in the Palace Museum in Beijing; Jörg 1997, p152, a similar vase with a tiger in a landscape.

Detail from a wall sconce, Qianlong, circa 1740, with a design attributed to Cornelis Pronk, showing a European Phoenix.

Detail from a baluster vase, Qianlong, circa 1740, showing a Chinese Phoenix or fenghuang. (See Number 16 in this catalogue)

9 Pair of Ewers and Covers Kangxi, c. 1700 European Market Height: 10 ½ inches (26.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection; formerly in the Collection of Sir Henry Price (1877–1963), who purchased them from Frank Partridge & Sons Ltd in 1945 for £150. A pair of famille verte ewers and covers with spouts modelled as the heads of phoenixes, the bodies with panels of flowers and rocks, with borders of cell diaper. This rare pair shows the use of the bird heads for the spouts of many pouring vessels. This type of ewer is also known in blue and white and is derived from metal ewers taken to China from the Middle East during the Tang period, Chinese ceramic examples being known from that period onwards.

The Chinese phoenix, or fenghuang, is not to be confused with the Western phoenix, which rises from the ashes. The Chinese bird is more complex and is a composite creation, each part having its own symbolism. Originally, feng referred to the male bird and huang to the female, with the species representing a harmonious duality parallel to the Daoist yin/yang. However, from the Han dynasty onwards it became associated with the Empress and assumed a more female symbolism. The head is crested and wattled like a jungle fowl, the feathers on the back are like those of a mandarin duck, and the tail has three long feathers with peacock eyes and two optional side feathers. Her back carries virtue, her sides are obedience, and the whole body symbolises fidelity. In art she is often depicted as the Queen of Birds surrounded by a court of other birds.

References: Jörg 1997, p162, No 177, a similar pair lacking covers in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Kleykamp 1928, p33, plate II, a single ewer; Cohen & Motley 2008, p242.

10 Reticulated Pen Box and Cover Kangxi, c. 1700 European Market Length: 6 inches (15cm) Width: 2 ¾ inches (7cm) Height: 1 ¾ inches (4.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection; the Cory Collection Rare famille verte pen box and cover of rectangular form with reticulated brocade sides, the cover finely painted with a sedate Chinese maiden on rocks, drinking tea and watching goldfish in a bowl. Exhibited: British Antique Dealers Association, London, Art Treasures, 1932, No 9; Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1964, No 132.

11 Scroll Weight Kangxi, c. 1700 Chinese Domestic Market Length: 14 inches (35.5cm) Width and height: 3 ¼ inches (8.25cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A rare famille verte scroll weight painted on three sides with scrolling peony on a dot ground scattered with lingzhi, the ends with a pierced cash roundel, the base with sprays of bamboo painted in black enamel.

12 Pomander and Cover Kangxi, c. 1690 European or Chinese Market Height: 5 ½ inches (13.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection; formerly in the Collection of the Hon Nellie and Basil Ionides, Buxted Park. A fine pomander and cover of ovoid basket form, painted in famille verte enamels with four reticulate panels on a green ground, the handle in yellow and black simulating wicker work, the cover with Buddhist lion knop. Quantities of dried aromatic flowers and spices could be placed inside this. It is a delicate and skillfully executed piece that would have appealed to to the Chinese market as much as the Western Export market.

13 Pair of Bowls Yongzheng, c. 1730 European Market Diameter: 10 inches (25.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A pair of rose verte bowls, the exterior with a moulded trellis pattern on a green ground reserved with leaf-shaped panels containing fruit and flowers, the interior painted with sprays of peony, chrysanthemum and dahlias. A high quality pair of bowls that show the soft colours of the enamelling in the Yongzheng period. The sophisticated moulded ground on the exterior is an example of the style that influenced furniture designers in Europe leading to the Chinese style fretwork, later in the eighteenth century, and especially in Regency England.

In the outward shop they commonly have coarse porcellane, such as the Chinese themselves buy, a quantity of toys, & the like. This shop is quite open to the street... In the middle of it is an opening to another vault, filled also with porcellane on both sides, but of a finer kind, and for the Europeans, who are here not so much pestered with impudent Chinese. Pehr Osbeck, in Canton 1751-2

14 Pair of Square Bottles and Covers Yongzheng, c. 1730 Dutch Market Height: 9 ¼ inches (23.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection.

It arrived in England after the ‘Glorious’ Revolution and was immediately popular. In the eighteenth century it was widespread and cheap, despite attempts to tax it which caused riots. The social consequences were famously illustrated by Hogarth. References: Mudge 1986, p151, a single bottle without cover.

A pair of square section porcelain flasks and covers, painted in famille rose enamels, each with four panels of flowers of peony, prunus, lotus and chrysanthemum, the panels with a pink border, the covers with pink and green flowers. The shape of these bottles is derived from the Dutch case gin bottles. Gin was invented in the seventeenth century by Franciscus Silvius, a German physician working in Leyden. It was a distilled spirit flavoured with juniper berries, and named after the french for juniper, genévrier.

Gin Lane (1751) by William Hogarth (detail)

15 Garden Seat Yongzheng, c. 1730 European or Chinese market Height: 19 ¼ inches (49cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A rose verte porcelain garden seat of barrel form, the centre of interlocking rings with lion mask handles, the lower and upper sections with rich lappet decoration and raised studs, the top with four buddhist lions around a pierced cash roundel.

Most examples of this form are much later in date. This is a fine example showing the richness and vivacity of the Yongzheng period enamellers.

Do not go to the garden of flowers! O friend! go not there; In your body is the garden of flowers. Take your seat on the thousand petals of the lotus, and there gaze on the infinite beauty. Kabir (1398-1519)

16 Massive Baluster Vase and Cover Qianlong, c. 1740 European, possibly Swedish, Market Height: 35 inches (89cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A massive baluster vase and cover brightly decorated in famille rose enamels, with scenes of Chinese phoenix (fenghuang) in a garden with fences and peonies, the shoulder with elaborate floral lappets, the cover with peonies and the knop moulded as an opening lotus bud.

Reference: Gyllensvärd 1972, p157, a very similar vase with identical cover but having red crowned cranes instead of phoenix, from the Swedish Royal Palace at Drottningholm.

17 Octagonal Box and Cover Yongzheng, c. 1730 European or Chinese Market Diameter: 9 ¼ inches (23.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection; formerly in the collection of Madeleine Whitney Shea. A rare famille rose octagonal box and cover painted with panels en grisaille of landscapes within an iron-red border on a ground of coloured diaper, the cover with the eight Immortals standing on waves around a yin/yang symbol.

Han Xiangxi, with a flute, is the patron of musicians, soothing wild animals with his music and making flowers bloom. He is the philosopher poet of the immortals and is sometimes shown with an everlasting cup of wine, as proof of the superiority of Daoism over Confucianism.

He Xiangu, the only woman in the group, shown with lotus blossom. She represents virginity and virtue, and was brought to the group after being rescued from a demon by Lü Dongbin.

Cao Guojiu, a relative of a Song dynasty empress, shown with a jade tablet that denotes admission to the imperial court. He is often shown with castanets and is the patron of actors.

Lü Dongbin (755805AD), with a flywhisk and a magical sword on his back for destroying evil spirits. He is often depicted as the leader of the group and is the most popular. He is a literary figure and the patron of magicians and barbers.

Zhongli Quan, based on a general from the Han dynasty, is the oldest of the group and the nominal leader. Shown with a fan, he represents the military and is often depicted with a bare belly.

Zhang Guolao, based on a Tang dynasty hermit, carrying a bamboo tube or fish-drum. Sometimes he is depicted riding a donkey that he could fold up and store in his wallet when not required. He was an alchemist and is associated with the comprehension of profundity, so he is the patron of old men and philosophers.

Li Tieguai is shown with an iron crutch and double gourd. Born in the Western Zhou period, he was a handsome young man called Li Yuan who studied Daoism and practised 'outof-body' travelling. He set off on a visit to Lao Tzu, the founder of Daoism, to learn the secrets of immortality, and instructed his apprentice to guard his body while his spirit was away. Unfortunately, the apprentice thought he had died and had him cremated. When Li returned, he had to take the only available body, that of a starved lame beggar in a nearby ditch. His soul often resides in the double gourd vase, from which he also dispenses medicine to the lame and sick, for whom he is the patron deity.

The Eight Daoist Immortals, or pa hsien, were first described in the Yuan dynasty and they were very popular in Chinese art, appearing in murals, silk paintings, and sculpture. Each figure has a symbolic object into which the immortal’s powers can be channelled, and each governs different spheres of human activity. Some are based on actual historical figures, though they have accumulated much apocryphal legend after achieving immortal status. The central device is the taiji tu, which first appeared in the Song dynasty; it symbolises the unity of the forces yin and yang in the Dao.

Lan Caihe, the most complex and least understood, is usually depicted as a youth of indeterminate gender (in Chinese theatre he wears female clothes but has a male voice). He is shown here carrying a flower basket because he is the patron deity of florists. He represents ambiguity and paradox; often shown with one foot bare, he wears thick clothes in summer and is scantily clad in winter. Like a Chinese version of Dorian Gray, he never aged, appearing as a beautiful boy, often drinking heavily and scattering his money around. Eventually he departed earth on the back of a crane. Despite his vagabond life, he denounced the fleeting pleasures of the flesh and is emblematic of innocence and happiness.

18 Famille Rose Monteith Yongzheng, c. 1730 European Market Length: 19 ½ inches (50cm) A famille rose monteith on moulded lion pad feet, with lion masks holding rings at either end, the interior and exterior painted with flowers and birds. This monteith is of the highest quality and is the only example of this form recorded in famille rose enamels; a few examples are known in famille verte. The enamelling represents the very best of the Yongzheng period enamellers’ art. This particular form of crenellated bowl derives from a seventeenth century silver type. The notches are to hold in place stemmed glasses so that the bowls can be chilled inside the Monteith. Often the silver examples had the rim as a separate detachable part so that it could also serve as a punch bowl. The original inspiration for the rim was the cut edge of a cloak belonging to a ‘fantastical Scot’ Monsieur Monteigh about whom little is known. Samuel Pepys describes him as a “swaggering handsome young gentleman...with a good basse but used to sing only tavern tunes”. He was clearly a lively character but probably had nothing to do with the creation of these objects. In contemporary inventories objects of this shape have been called variously: Monteth, Menteth, Mounteth, Munteth, Montef and Moonteeth.

The earliest mention is: This yeare [1683] in the summer time came up a vessel or bason notched at the brims to let drinking glasses hang there by the foot so that the body or drinking place might hang in the water to coole them. Such a bason was called a 'Monteigh,' from a fantastical Scot called 'Monsieur Monteigh,' who at that time or a little before wore the bottome of his cloake or coate so notched U U U U. Diary of Anthony Wood, Oxford, December 1683 Chinese export porcelain monteiths are rare and most are decorated in underglaze blue. The forms vary but the large oval examples either have feet like this or a waisted foot rim and bulging body. References: Lee, Georgina, Monteith Bowls, a discussion of their origins and a survey of mainly silver examples; Wirgin 1998, p64, No 63, a large monteith of this type with famille verte enamels; Pinto de Mato & Salgado 2002, p142, No 37, a pair of the large type with waisted foot rim; Cohen & Cohen 2002, p8, No 3, a blue and white example; Le Corbeiller 1974, p36, a blue and white example now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York; Howard 1994, p190, cat 218, an example in the Hodroff Collection; Cohen & Cohen 2005, p30, No 13, an example of the large type with foot rim, in famille rose; Ibid. 2007, p21, No 14, another famille rose example with waisted foot rim; Beurdeley 1962, p160, Cat. 52, a famille verte example of the same form as this; Ströber 2001, p74, another; Wirgin 1998, p64, another in famille verte.

19 Cistern and Basin Qianlong, c. 1740 Dutch Market Height of Cistern: 20 ¾ inches (53cm) Height of Basin: 11 inches (28cm) Length of Basin: 18 ½ inches (47cm) A famille rose cistern and cover with basin, brightly enamelled with a scene showing three elaborately robed figures seated beneath a flowering tree, the figures to the right and centre each holding a fish, and a fourth bald-headed and simply clothed figure standing behind them. In front of the seated men is a low table of European design on which rests a large kraak porcelain dish, in the background a peacock is perched on a trellis fence watching a bird in the tree, the interior of the basin with cartouches of fish trios in panels. The scene on this cistern and basin is known as 'The Doctor's Visit to the Emperor' and is after a design by the Dutch artist Cornelis Pronk. It was the second drawing (of four) the Dutch East India Company (VOC) commissioned from Cornelis Pronk in 1735, and, like the others, it portrays a very Western view of life in China. For example the table is of a European design and the dish on it is of the 'kraak' style, which is a type that was exported to the West in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and would never have been used by the Emperor. The design may have been inspired by a design on a Ming jar which depicts three Daoist 'star-gods' in a cave playing chess. Another possible source for the design is found in a late Ming blue and white bowl with the poet Su Dongpo on a boat seated at a table with two drinking companions, with an inscription that quotes from the Ode to the Red Cliffs, about catching fish. The design arrived in Canton in 1737 and presented the supercargoes responsible for placing the porcelain order with a problem familiar from the first Pronk design: both were highly detailed and therefore very expensive to produce, and so the supercargoes dared place only a small order. A second slightly larger order was placed the following year, but in 1739 another less detailed version of this design, omitting the standing figure, was sent to Canton in hope of reducing the price of production. The supercargoes took this second version from dealer to dealer but were unable to obtain a satisfactory reduction in the price and reported that they would not be placing an order after all. However, the records from the VOC show that a large order of 60 dinner services of 371 pieces, thirty more of 94 pieces and 830 pieces of tea wares was placed. Strangely, pieces of the second version are now much less common than pieces of the first, despite being ordered in far larger numbers. Cisterns of this type are very rare, especially still accompanied by their basin. A number of designs attributed to Pronk are known on them: The Archer, the

Handwashing Maiden and The Potentate, and they are known in two sizes (53cm and 70cm). A pencil drawing by Pieter le Normant in the Historisch Museum, Rotterdam, circa 1740, for an elaborate sideboard shows a cistern and basin like this with special shelves for each part. In this design the two seated figures on the right are each presenting a small fish to the Emperor on the left, which may have been a reference to their healthy and nutritious nature and which is extended by Pronk in the rim panels, each of which has three crossed fish. This slightly awkward design must have some significance, possibly in a Dutch language pun or in folklore. Perhaps it resonates with Aesop's fable of The Fisherman and the Little Fish who, when caught, begged the man to let him go as he was too small to eat and could grow into a much better meal in the future. The fisherman declined, saying: "A little thing in the hand is worth more than a great thing in prospect." The trios of fish that are on the shoulder of the cistern and the lip and the interior of the basin are a very unusual set of images. The significance of the trio is not clear but they seem to be echoing the fish in the main image. Although it is not possible to identify all of these, they seem to be mainly tropical marine fish from the Indo-pacific region, where a number of Dutch naturalists were working in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Notable among them was VOC naturalist Samuel Fallours whose almost surreal colour drawings of fish were used in Louis Renard’s Poissons, Ecrivisse & Crabes (1719), which may have been, indirectly, an inspiration for these fish though no precise models in it have been found. Fish systematics was in its infancy at this time - the first proper survey was written by Peter Artedi and published posthumously by Carl Linnaeus in 1738. Some tentative identifications are given below. Another publication by Rumphius used the drawings of Fallours and also of Marie Sybille Merian. A different image is known on Chinese export porcelain of the same date as this cistern, that uses some of Merian’s images reworked into a new composition, the production of which has been atributed to the same workshops as produced the ‘Pronk wares’. Pronk’s drawing of the three-figure reworking of this design has survived but it has none of the fish trios so whether it was Pronk himself who reworked these Natural History images or someone else working in the VOC who created these designs is not clear. His images of mayflies and waterbirds in other designs suggest he was knowledgeable in this area. References: Jörg 1980, pp 26-7, an urn and cover with this design; Howard & Ayers 1978, p294, an urn, and discussion of Pronk designs; Pietsch, TW (Ed) 1995, discussion of the Fallours fish drawings in Renard’s Poissons etc; Cohen & Cohen 1999, p35, a pair of larger famille rose cisterns with this design; Fuchs 200, 104, a cistern with The Potentate and an illustration of the le Normant drawing; Howard 1994, p240, the cistern with The Potentate; Wirgin 1998, p177, a basin with different fish trio inside, in imari palette.

A1. Pterois volitans or P. antennata (Bloch 1787) Red Lionfish/Scorpionfish A2. Caranx speciosus Kingfish/Golden Jack A3. Cirrhitichthys sp. Drawing by Samuel Fallours from Louis Renard’s Poissons, possibly A1 (Pterois sp)

B1. Cirrhitichthys aprinus (Cuvier 1829) Spotted Hawkfish B2. unknown B3. Epinephelus cyanopodus (Richardson 1846) Speckled Blue Grouper Another fish trio on a similar basin (Pub: Wirgin 1998) showing Heniochus acuminatus (L. 1758) Longfin Bannerfish

C1. Chaetodon ephippium Saddled Butterflyfish C2. Oxymonacanthus longirostris (Bloch 1801) Longnose Filefish C3. unknown Chaetodon ephippium (C1)

D1. Amphiprion ocellaris (Cuvier 1830) False Clownfish or A. percula (Lacepède 1801) Common Clownfish or A. polymnus (Linnaeus 1758) Saddleback Clownfish D2. as A2 D3. as A3 E1. Pomacanthus annularis (Bloch 1787) Blue Ring Angelfish E2. Halichoeres argus (Block & Schneider 1801) Argus Wrasse or Epinephelus cyanopodus (Richardson 1846) Speckled Blue Grouper E3. Forcipiger flavissimus (Jordan & McGregor 1898) Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish F1. Amphiprion polymnus (Linnaeus 1758) Saddleback Clownfish F2. unknown F3. unknown

Drawing by Samuel Fallours from Louis Renard’s Poissons, possibly D1 (Amphiprion sp)

Pomacanthus annularis (D1)

Forcipiger flavissimus (E3)

Amphiprion polymnus (F1)

20 Pair of Dinner Plates Qianlong, c. 1740 Dutch Market Diameter: 9 inches (23cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A rare pair of dinner plates painted with a scene of a Chinese couple in an arbour surrounded by several children, with ducks on a pond in the foreground, the rim with panels of fruit, flowers and insects reserved on a ground of green diaper, interspersed with palmettes and shells in iron red. These plates have a design by the Dutch artist Cornelis Pronk, who was commissioned by the Dutch East India Company in 1734 to make drawings to be reproduced on porcelain. His designs are an example of Chinoiserie in that they create a European view of Chinese life. However in this case the items themselves were made in China. The Chinese figures in a garden imitate Chinese scenes, with which Pronk would have been familiar from export porcelains, but the topiary of the hedge, the parrots in the tree and the waterbirds at the front are all European in style, as also are the palmettes and the reserved panels on the rim border. Several of Pronk’s designs were produced in specific workshops in Canton and are characterised by elab-

orate enamelling and the curious mix of Chinese and European sensibilities. This pattern is also known in blue and white. The unusual diaper ground on the rim and the sepia palmettes are reworked in a teaservice, which also has lappets of the same shape as found on the reverse of these plates: see the three images below. References: Scheurleer 1974, plate 202; Jörg 1980, p34, Nos 48-50; Jörg 1989, No 52; Du Boulay 1966, p262; Le Corbeiller 1973, Cat 30; Ibid. 1974, fig 24; Forbes 1982, p42, No 69; Litzenburg 2003, p177; Howard 1994, Nos 55-6; Clunas 1987, pl 48; Shimizu & Chabanne 2003, p207, No 158.

Saucer with palmette pattern, attributed to Pronk workshops

Detail from the rim border of the plates above.

Detail from the reverse side of the rim of the plates above.

21 Fluted Dish Qianlong, c. 1740 Dutch Market Diameter: 11 ¼ inches (28.5cm) Provenance: the Leo & Doris Hodroff Collection A rare saucer dish of fluted form with a scene of Chinese ladies with a parasol, painted in famille rose enamels, with several waterbirds beside them. The central scene is known as La Dame au Parasol by the Dutch artist Cornelis Pronk, commissioned by the Dutch East India Company. The design is an example of chinoiserie - in this case possibly inspired by a design known on a Kangxi pieces. This version is very rare - and probably only a small number of this shape were made with this border decoration. The birds are all European and would seem to be a Spoonbill, a Grebe (probably Great Crested) and a Ruff in full display.

The design is recorded in Chinese Imari, blue and white and in famille rose with a cell border.The pattern was also sent to Japan and is known on Japanese porcelain. Later services of this design were also made in blue and white and Chinese Imari in the 1770s but the quality is poorer. The pattern was also copied by European manufacturers such as Cozzi, Ouder-Amstel and some Delft factories. References: Jörg 1980, similar examples; Jörg 1984, p86, No 43, a dinner plate in famille rose; p206, No 158, a bowl in Amstel porcelain c1785-1809; Jörg 1989, pp138 and p140 for two example in Chinese Imari, one of 1736 & one from 1770; Jansen 1976, p153, No 365, a dinner plate in famille rose; Beurdeley 1962, p56 several versions of the pattern illustrated, with the original design; Howard 1994, p73 a similar example; Howard & Ayers 1978, pp292-305 for a discussion of Pronk designs; Le Corbeiller 1974, p55 two examples; Wirgin 1998, p173 a saucer dish in blue and white; Scheuleer 1974, plates 1926 various examples; Alves et al 1998, p 276, No 94 a coffee pot in famille rose.

22 Charger Qianlong, c. 1740 Dutch or European market Diameter: 21 ¼ inches (54cm) A massive famille rose charger brightly decorated with a central basket of peony, lily and magnolia, the rim with dense floral decoration and parrots. This large and delicately coloured charger has an unusual border combining Chinese and European motifs, the peonies interspersed with cartouches, two of which have pairs of parrots.

In China the parrot, yingwu, is the symbol of a prostitute, a connection that is derived from a folk tale in which an unfaithful wife is revealed to her husband by a talking parrot; the name is also a homophone for a young girl, hence the erotic connotations. Interestingly, the parrot in poetry is most often pictured as a captive in a 'gilded cage', far from its homeland, doomed to spend its life in solitude because its beauty and charming chatter are prized by those with money to spend on exotic objects. In any case, parrots appear very rarely in Chinese art, though they are seen occasionally carrying a rosary as a companion to the Guanyin of the South Seas. They were of course very popular in the West because of the many caged birds kept as pets, mostly imported from Africa.

23 Wall Sconce Qianlong, c. 1740 Dutch Market Height: 20 ¼ inches (51cm) A rare and large wall bracket with a central panel of two Chinese sages and an elaborately moulded border, with two later brass candle sconces. This interesting item perfectly illustrates the collision of artistic endeavour between the West and East that is a feature of the China trade at this time. The form is copied from Delftware and yet the central image is a classic piece of Chinese imagery. This wall sconce is almost certainly from the special workshops in Canton set up to make the luxury porcelains using the designs of the Dutch painter Cornelis Pronk. In the records of the VOC there is mention of ‘tapestry sconces’ copied after delft originals and the wooden moulds for them which were taken to China, two styles in three sizes, six moulds in all.

There are few surviving examples of these sconces and none with the known Pronk designs found on dinner services and other items. However three types are known: one with a torch bearer, one with a lady on a swing and the design of a phoenix. This piece now adds another element to the story of the Pronk workshops. Possibly this was a trial piece made from the moulds taken from the Delft sconces and enamelled by the Chinese to show the Dutch traders before the Pronk designs were used. Or it is a blank porcelain example left over after orders of the Pronk designs were completed - and finished in Chinese style. The enamelling is very good - and the image on its own would probably be dated to the Yongzheng period, so the former is the most likely explanation. REFERENCES: Jörg 1980, p38 illustration of a delft sconce, and two Chinese examples, the torch bearer and the phoenix; Howard & Ayers 1978, p302, No 297, another example, 14½ inches tall, with the phoenix; Arapova et al 2003, p49, No 49, a sconce with the torchbearer figure.

24 Charger Yongzheng, c. 1730 European Market Diameter: 21 ¾ inches (55.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A massive famille rose charger of exceptional quality vividly enamelled with a scene of fisherman raising their nets, while others eat by the side of the water and a lady passes carrying a child, a servant by her side, the seeded pink border strewn with flower heads and having four panels with further fishing scenes. This vividly painted dish belongs to a small group of very fine large chargers that were decorated in the Yongzheng period with domestic or narrative Chinese scenes. Such scenes were much more common in the Kangxi period, being part of an extensive propaganda for the relatively new Qing dynasty. However by the reign of Emperor Yongzheng this was much less of an imperative on porcelain. These chargers are characterised by very bright enamels - in particular the yellow which is used to great effect, as well as a wide range of greens and turquoises. Fishing is one of the Four Basic Occupations (the others are: carpenter, scholar and peasant) and it is a popular motif in Chinese art, particularly associated with the poetic ideal of the scholar fisherman, the most famous of which is Jiang Zi ya, possibly shown at the front of the image. This scene conveys a gentle and productive harmony, which also carries a subtle political message. References: Howard 1994, p62-65, Nos 38-42, several items of similar type; Cohen & Cohen 2004, p14, Cat 6, a charger of the same size with a scene from The Romance of the Western Chamber; Ibid. 2005, p18, another with deer hunting scenes.

25 Pair of Coffee Pots and Covers Qianlong, c. 1750 Height: 13 ¾ inches (35cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A large pair of lighthouse-form coffee pots and covers enamelled in famille rose with a phoenix surrounded by peonies and rocks, the spouts modelled as phoenix heads. These are found in several sizes; this is the largest. The form is copied from one originally made at Meissen, itself copying a silver original. References: Jörg 1989, p84, a single of smaller size; Fuchs 2005, p115, No 66, a blue and white example; Howard 1997, p123, No 152, a Chinese imari example; Cohen & Motley 2008, p241.

26 Coffee Pot and Cover Yongzheng, c. 1735 Dutch Market Height: 13 inches (33cm) Provenance: the Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection. A rare famille rose pear shaped coffee pot and cover decorated on each side with a panel of Europeans within elaborate diaper borders, the handle and spout in iron red and the knop of the cover as a Buddhistic lion.

This rare pot has a European couple, which have traditionally been called ‘Governor Duff and Wife’ after Diederik Durven, Dutch Governor-General of Batavia, but there is no evidence for this and it is most likely taken from a series of generic prints. Other examples of this shape are recorded with different images of Europeans. References: Williamson 1970, plate XXVI; Jörg, 1989, p110, No 31, a similar coffee pot (different couple), described by the author as “one of the finest examples of chine de commande in the Brussels collection”; Hervouët & Bruneau 1986, p68, the same pot as Jörg above, but showing a different scene of Europeans on the other side; Arapova & Menshikova 2003. p40, N0 36, a similar pot with different European figures, lacking a cover.

27 Pair of Figural Groups of Dutch Dancers Qianlong, c. 1750 Dutch Market Height: 9 ¾ inches (25cm) A true pair of figure groups of Dutch couples dancing, one showing the start of the dance with the couple standing together, the man’s feet splayed, the second group in mid-twirl, in each group the man wears a black tricorn hat, green coat and red waistcoat and the woman wears a blue headscarf, red top with green cuffs and a blue skirt, both groups on identical rectangular plinths with faux bois enamelling. This pair of figures is one of the oddest, rarest and most famous types in Chinese Export Porcelain. They do not fit with most other such figures made for export and their market is unclear. Though it would seem that these are made for the Dutch Market (and some were clearly exported to Europe) they may also have been made for the entertainment of the Chinese. They were made as matching pairs: the first shows the couple preparing to dance with the man's feet parted and his arms guiding her shoulder; the second group shows them twirling in the middle of the dance. This pair has the same colouring of the clothes and the base and is the first recorded example of a true pair - others having become separated over the years. The standing group is similar to a different group showing a Dutch couple side by side but lacking a geometric base. This earlier pair has different faces with the man's feet unsplayed and which must have been made from different moulds. They are probably inspired by the so-called 'Governor Duff' images found painted on some early porcelains (see Number 26 in this catalogue) and also modelled in dehua blanc-de-chine. These were originally believed to represent Diederik Durven who arrived in Batavia in 1705, eventually becoming VOC Governor there from 1728-1731, though it is now believed that the figures are just generic Europeans. This couple has also been suggested to be representing the Sailor's Farewell, a popular scene on famille rose items in the 1750s. Such figures were made from several different moulds, one for each part of the group, and each figure was then skilfully assembled and finished by the Chinese artisan. The heads from these two groups are obviously taken from the same moulds demonstrating the economic efficiency of the Chinese potters. The couple in mid-dance is very likely to have

been influenced by an earlier model of a dancing couple that was first made for the Meissen factory and then copied by the Chinese as well as by Bow, Chelsea and Derby. First modeled by Johann Friedrich Eberlein in 1735 for Meissen, it was reworked by Johan Joachim Kändler and listed in his Taxa of 1743 as ‘Harlequin and a maiden doing a Polish dance, possibly a Mazurka’. There are very few examples of that Chinese export group known but when the wreck of the VOC ship Geldermalsen was salvaged in 1985 five damaged examples were recovered which had lost their enamels due to the corrosion of salt water and enabled dating to 1752. This Dutch group is in a more naïve style and would have amused the Chinese who were known to find European activities very curious. The most interesting aspect of these groups is the combination of European and Chinese influences: the costumes are typical eighteenth century European fashion, but decorated in a Chinese manner with peonies, chrysanthemum, clouds and scrolls. The plinth provides another clue that indicates these groups might have been popular with the Chinese market and not purely for export, as this style is often found on pieces made for the domestic market. Perhaps they were "curiosities for those interested in the physiognomy, costumes and social habits of Westerners" as suggested by Sargent (1991). There exist books with illustrations of European figures that were made for the Chinese Court and the Emperor Qianlong encouraged the use of European scenes and figures on certain Imperial items. References: Sargent 1991, p218, cat 105, the earlier standing couple on a rock base; p220, cat 106 an example of this group with different colouring that matches the next group in this catalogue; p222, cat 107, the dancing group with identical colouring to this example; Antiques, February 1961: Hayward, John: figures from the Ionides collection relating to this example and reference to another in the Garbisch Collection, & Butler, Michael: Chinese Porcelain Figures of Westerners; Beurdeley 1962, p21, Plate V, a standing example from the Espirito Santo Collection; Williamson 1970, plate XLI, the earlier standing couple on a rock base; Howard & Ayers 1978, p616, No 647, an example of the earlier model of the standing pair, p618, an example of this standing pair; Du Boulay 1963, Chinese Porcelain, p82, No 116, a dancing pair; Beurdeley & Raindre 1987, fig 284, a dancing pair; Cohen &Cohen 2002, p44, cat 30, a Chinese example of the earlier Tyrolean Dancers modeled after Eberlein, Kaendler; Cohen & Cohen 2006, pp26-9 two groups; Sharp 2002, pp150-152, four examples of the twirling couple from Meissen, Bow, the Chinese Export tyroleans and an example of the Dutch pair.

1 August 1901 It is the custom of the house to plunge into the Atlantic at five to eight every morning. We are rowed out in purple bathing dresses by bronzed descendants of Armada heroes until there is no land in sight and then, at a given signal, we leap into the blue and bottomless swell and are borne hither and thither like helpless jellyfish. Having sustained ourselves in the waves so long as our strength holds out, we crawl again into the boats and are ferried back to a great lugger where we find our clothes elegantly disposed by careful valets: we cover our bodies; light cigarettes; and are taken back to land where we find a herd of Dartmoor ponies; we select a mount and clamber up a sheer precipice and over to the house, where we are welcomed by a smoking mess of lobsters and great dishes of honey and Devon cream. Raymond Asquith (1878-1916)

28 Figure Group of Dutch Dancers Qianlong, c. 1750 Dutch Market Height: 9 ¾ inches (24.75cm) A figural group of a Dutch couple twirling in a dance, the man in a black tricorn hat, a red coat and green waistcoat, the woman with blue head dress, pale blue top and red skirt, all on a pierced rectangular plinth in faux bois. Another example of this extremely rare figure group that shows a slight variation in colouring.

If you are idle, be not solitary; if you are solitary, be not idle. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Chinese export figure group of Tyrolean Dancers, Cohen & Cohen 2002

On Friday 6 August, 1762, during a long session at cards, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, asked his cook to prepare a quick snack, comprising a slice of cold beef between two pieces of bread.

29 Single Cock Pheasant Qianlong, c. 1750 European Market, probably French Market Height: 13 ½ inches (34cm) A single figure of a cock pheasant with orange body and crest, pink nape detailed in black, polychrome wings and tail, and yellow legs on a pierced rockwork base enamelled in brown and puce. The model is clearly the Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus, Linnaeus 1758), which appears extensively in Chinese art, rather than the Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) that would have been familiar to Europeans as a game bird (and which also occurs in China). Golden Pheasants are very colourful and are quite easy to keep in cages, so they were successfully brought back to Europe as live specimens early in the eighteenth century. Madame de Pompadour kept them at Trianon, they were recorded in English private estates from the 1720s, and they have now naturalised in parts of Britain. The Marquis de Lafayette presented several of these birds to George Washington at Mount Vernon in 1786. When they arrived, an enterprising showman, Charles Wilson Peale of Philadelphia, requested the bodies for him to preserve, should they expire. Washington replied: ‘I cannot say that I shall be happy to have it in my power to comply with your request by sending you the bodies of my Pheasants, but expect that it will not be long before they will compose a part of your Museum, as they all appear to be drooping.’ The stuffed specimens are now in the Harvard Museum of Natural History. References: Gorer, Edgar & Blacker 1911, plate 101, a pair similar to this one, and plate 99, a pair from the Richard Bennett Collection that are similar; Cohen & Motley 2008, pp236-40, several models of pheasants; Mézin 2002, p184, a very similar single example but of opposite pose to this, in the Musée Guimet, Paris.

I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

30 Pair of Maidens as Candleholders Qianlong, c. 1740 European Market Height: 17 inches (43cm) A rare pair of famille rose lady candle holders, each lady in a blue coat with iron red roundels, carrying a lobed guform vase painted in puce enamels, each standing on a pale green lotus leaf. Pairs of court ladies modelled as candleholders are rare and these are one of the highest quality examples of the type with sweet modelling of the faces and rich colouring. The lotus leaves on which they stand are a rare touch - only two other pairs are recorded with this and they have red coats. Provenance: ex Collection of Leo and Doris Hodroff References: Cohen & Motley 2008, p103, Item 5.4, a similar pair on lotus leaves with red coats; Howard 1994. p258, No 307, this pair, No 308 another pair; Howard & Ayers 1978, p615, No 644 - a single example; p614, No 643, another pair which it is suggested are derived from a chinoiserie original; Williamson 1970, plate LIX, various single examples of the type; Sharp 2002, p209, a pair of ladies with lotus candleholders also derived from chinoiserie models but with unusual feather shoulder mantles possibly of South American influence; Cohen & Cohen 2001, p44, Cat 37, another pair; C&C 2004, Cat 26, another pair; C&C 2005, p36, a pair on lotus leaves with red coats; C&C 2007, several pairs.

If a woman suffers herself to be deflowered, she is carried into the market by her superiors, as soon as it is known, and sold to the highest bidder; these are bought to be servant-maids for life, at the price of 100 dollars copper money, sometimes more and sometimes less. Pehr Osbeck 1752, A Voyage to China and the East Indies, p290.

31 Pair of Wine Coolers Qianlong, c. 1760 European Market Height: 5 ¾ inches (14.5cm) A pair of small wine coolers decorated in famille rose enamels with floral sprays, having moulded rims and loop handles after European silver shapes. An elegant and rare pair of wine coolers, modelled after a European silver original, though at this size they are more useful as jardinières. References: Mézin 2002, p75, a famille rose pair of the same size and form but different flowers, in the Musée de Lorient; Brawer 1992, p145, a single blue and white example; Huitfeldt 1993, p66, a single in famille rose.

Bacchus hath drowned more men than Neptune. Dr. Thomas Fuller (1654 - 1734), Gnomologia, 1732

Work is the curse of the drinking classes. Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading. Henny Youngman (1906 - 1998)

32 Armorial Tureen and Cover Qianlong, c. 1755 English Market Stand: 14 ¾ inches (37.5cm) A famille rose tureen, cover and stand of lobed form, painted with butterflies, fruit and cockerels, with an English coat of arms and crest. Arms: Lynch with, in pretence, Wake quartering Hovell Lynch (granted 1572): Sable three lynxes proper, crest: a lynx passant proper Wake: Or two bars gules (correctly also in chief three torteaux) Hovell: Sable a crescent or This service was made for The Very Rev. John Lynch, DD, Dean of Canterbury (1697-1760), son of John Lynch and Sarah Head (she died in child birth, 1710, with her 19th child.) His brother was Sir William Lynch, KB. He married Mary Wake, daughter and heiress of the Most Rev William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury and Etheldreda Hovell (daughter and heiress of Sir William Hovell of Hillington, Norfolk). This genealogy explains

the arms: a marriage to an heiress permits the wife’s arms to be place in a central shield (in pretence) and their children could carry the quartered arms of both parents - just as in the central shield which is quartered because Mary Wake’s mother was also an heiress. The Lynch family of Staple in Kent are descended from William Lynch a rich wool merchant and major benefactor of Cranbrooke School in the 16th Century. John and Mary had seven children, the eldest Sir William, KB, was a member of Parliament. A relative, John Lynch founded Lynchburg, Virginia in 1786 and his brother Charles led a band of determined patriots against the lawless Tories, coining the term ‘Lynch Law’. Reference: Howard 1974, p402, this service.

William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury

Sir William Lynch, KB, MP

33 Pair of Fructomorphic Tureens and Covers Qianlong, c. 1795 Iberian Market Length: 7 ½ inches (19cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A pair of famille rose tureens and covers moulded in the form of peaches, each left in the white except for a blush of pink at the distal end and embellished all over with applied stems bearing colourful flowers, foliage and fruits, the finial formed as an applied branch. There is a small range of similar tureens modelled as melons, aubergines (eggplant), pumpkins, gourds, pomegranate and fingercitron, as well as artichokes and lotus buds. The applied leaves and fruit to the outside make it impractical to use and these would only ever have been intended as decorative items. No others of this precise type have been recorded, though a similar pair modelled as lotus buds with applied flowers are known. References: Beurdeley 1962, p162, Cat. 58, a melon-form tureen and cover, with Tupaia knop & p161, Cat. 56, a peach-form tureen.

I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. William Penn (1644-1718)

Promises that you make to yourself are often like the Japanese plum tree - they bear no fruit. Francis Marion (1732 - 1795)

34 Pair of Chamber Sticks Qianlong, c. 1750 French Market Height: 6 ¾ inches (17cm) An extremely rare pair of Chinese export porcelain chamber sticks, of rococo form after European originals, the candleholder resembling an inflorescence with coloured bracts and foliate tendrils forming a handle, the bases in the form of a vine leaf resting on a rectangular plinth. This extraordinary pair of candlesticks are very rare - another pair and a single are the only others recorded. They appear to be copying a rococo form, probably originally moulded in French faience or silver, though the source has not been found. The plinth base is similar to that of some figures but the leaf and cup form is otherwise unkown. References: Beurdeley 1962, p170, Cat. 96, a single example from the Roger Boutemy Collection, Paris.

22 March 1763 I determined to sit up all night which I did, and wrote a great deal. About two in the morning I inadvertently snuffed out my candle, and, as my fire was black and cold, I was in a dilemma how to proceed. Downstairs did I softly step to the kitchen. But, alas, there was as little fire there as upon the icy mountains of Greenland. I was filled with ideas of the terrors of the night. I was also apprehensive that my landlord, who kept a pair of loaded pistols by him, might fire at me as a thief. I went up to my room, sat quietly till I heard the watchman calling ‘Past three o’clock’. I called to him to knock at the door of the house. He did so, and I opened it and got my candle relumed. Thus I was relieved and continued busy till eight next day. James Boswell (1740-1795) Diary

35 Small Punch Bowl Qianlong, c. 1770 English Market Diameter: 11 ½ inches (29cm) An extremely rare hunting punchbowl, painted with a continuous scene of a hunt meeting after an engraving by PC Canot, following a painting by James Seymour, the inner rim with a border of flowers and a central image of a single huntsman on horseback. Going Out in the Morning, engravedby PC Canot, after James Seymour

This bowl has enamelling of an extraordinarily high quality, which is comparable with that on a rare bowl depicting the Edinburgh Toxophily (archery) Society, suggesting that they were probably from the same workshop. English hunting scenes were popular on Chinese export porcelain and this scene is known on others, in conjunction with other hunting scenes. The scene here is taken from a print by American artist Pierre-Charles Canot (1710-1777) after a painting by James Seymour (1702-1752), showing a hunt meet outside a garden wall with an orangery or gazebo. In order to create an image all round the bowl the composition has been altered slightly - the wall and buildings have been moved to the left. Interestingly the Chinese painters have misinterpreted one of the riders, in the original he is looking down at a hound, but his black jockey cap has been redrawn here as a black face. This indicates that the print taken to Canton was probably a later generation copy. The interior of the bowl has a single huntsman with a horn who is taken from the rider on the extreme right of the main image. Among Seymour’s patrons was Sir William Jolliffe MP for Petersfield, whose hunt was depicted by him in at least two paintings, of which this is one. Both are known together on other bowls. The figure in the turquoise coat on the grey horse, with his back to the viewer, is Sir William Jolliffe, as he is the focus of attention. The buildings could be part of Petersfield House. It was extensively remodelled by Sir William’s nephew John in the 1730’s with a Grange, dairies and outbuildings, the architect was John James of Greenwich who also built Standlynch Park, which has windows very similar to the one in this image - Petersfield House was demolished in 1793 when the family moved to Merstham near Reigate and no drawings of it survive. The church with square steeple could be Harting Church, which it resembles and is to the south east of Petersfield. References: Brawer 1992, p117, No 90, a different bowl with prints after Seymour; Howard 1997, No 144 a bowl with this and other images; Howard & Ayers 1978, p281-3, No 280, another bowl, after Seymour images; Lloyd Hyde 1964, Colour Plate B, a bowl; Phillips 1956, p141, pl 59, a bowl with different images after Seymour; Cohen & Cohen 2007, p54, No 32 another bowl (see right); Hervouët & Bruneau 1986, p74, No 3.23, this bowl; Du Boulay 1973, p92, this bowl.

Three views of this bowl: above, the interior rim, right, rider from the interior centre, below, another view.

The same image from a different punchbowl, Cohen & Cohen 2007

36 Reticulated Hexagonal Vase Qianlong, c. 1780 Chinese Market Height: 15 ¾ inches (40cm) Provenance: a private American collection.

A reticulated famille rose vase of hexagonal section, each side pierced with a lace pattern on a green scrolling ground, the tall neck moulded with a pair of chilong on a flower ground, the flared base with pierced cash roundels.

37 Pair of Vases and Covers Qianlong, c. 1770 European Market Height: 25 ¼ inches (64cm)

A fine and large pair of Mandarin vases and covers richly decorated with panels of domestic Chinese scenes on a blue diaper ground, the covers with lion knops.

38 Pair of Trays with Custard Cups and Covers Jiaqing, c. 1800 Swedish or American Market Trays: length: 9 ¼ inches (23.5cm) Cups: height: 3 ¼ inches (8.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A rare pair of square trays with notched corners, each containing nine custard cups and covers decorated in sepia and gilt with floral sprays, having a crossover strap handle and berry knop. This set has a spare elagance and simplicity that is characteristic of much Chinese export porcelain for the Scandinavian or American markets at this time. Full sets of nine on their original tray are very rare - so a complete set of eighteen is remarkable. A similar tray and four cups with the arms of Wybesma of Friesland and Dozy of Holland has appeared at auction.

You eat, in dreams, the custard of the day. Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

Chopsticks are one of the reasons the Chinese never invented custard Spike Milligan (1918-2002)

39 Pair of Urns and Covers Qianlong, c. 1795 Swedish or American Market Height: 18 ½ inches (47cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A pair of Chinese export neo-classical urns and covers with key handles, the baluster bodies dotted with floral sprays around a relief-moulded reserve containing a sepia landscape, the plinths in faux marble, the knops to the covers modelled as the ‘weeping widow’. There is a small range of urn designs copied in Chinese export porcelain, all dating from the very end of the eighteenth century and derived from neoclassical European sources. These shapes have been traced back to designs by Stefano della Bella in the late sixteenth century at the time he was working for Ferdinand de Medici. These were first published in England by Israel Sylvester and a later edition by Sayer was faithfully reproduced by Wedgwood.

The designs were also copied and adapted by the Marieberg factories in Sweden and at Sèvres in France. The most common style had ‘pistol’ handles, but others had boughs or Greek key shapes such as this pair. In the neoclassical revival at the end of the eighteenth century they were made popular by designers such as Robert Adam for use as decorative items on a mantlepiece in a large fashionable drawing room. The original classical function of these objects was to contain the cremated ashes of the dead. As such they were often given as funerary gifts in the eighteenth century to commemorate a departed relative. The finial modelled as a weeping widow fits in with this and was a motif widely used by the Wegdewood factory as a finial, especially on black basalt ware ceramic items made from 1768 onwards. References: Grandjean 1965, fig 128, cat 143, a single urn with Greek-key handles and a weeping widow finial; Howard & Ayers 1978, pp556-7, two urns of different shape; Howard 1994, p245, No 291, a pair of urns; Beurdeley 1962, p165, Cat 70, a single vase, similar in shape; Antunes 2000, No 123, a pair of urns; Wirgin 1998, p168, No 180, a pair of urns in blue enamels; Cohen & Cohen 2004, p56, a pair of urns with floral handles and weeping widow finial.

40 Small Punch Bowl Daoguang/Xianfeng, c. 1847-56 American Market Diameter: 11 ¾ inches (29.5cm) A small punch bowl painted with panels of flowers, birds and figures in famille rose enamels in the ‘rose medallion’ style, with two panels on the inside showing very rare scenes of the hongs at Canton, one flying the Stars-and-Stripes flag of the USA. This is a remarkable and very rare bowl that shows the foreign factories on the waterfront at Canton. Views of the hongs from this period painted on porcelain are extremely rare, with only a few other examples being recorded. This one shows the US flag which is also very rare on porcelain, as well as the British Union flag and the Danish flag shown flying over the Dutch hong. The dating is possible because of the church behind the American flag, which was built in 1847 and burnt down in the fire of 1856, it had a clock on its tower which can be seen here; the gardens at the front were laid out in 1840. The Danish flag is show flying outside the old Ducth Hong on the far right. At this time it was occupied by Jardine, Matheson & Co. a member of which firm had been acting as Danish Consul. The bowl is otherwise decorated in the elaborate and colourful style of this period, known variously as Rose Canton, Rose Medallion, or Rose Mandarin with panels of figures surrounded by borders of the ‘Hundred Butterflies’ or ‘black butterfly’ pattern. These patterns were produced in varying qualities throughout the nineteenth century.

The Hongs in Canton were crucial to the evolution and success of the European trade with China. Depictions of the Hongs have appeared on porcelain from about 1740 onwards, though examples of this date are very rare and this particular image is not recorded and its source unknown. In the eighteenth century the Europeans were confined to a small area and strongly distrusted by the Chinese. In 1792 Ambassador McCartney attempted to improve matters but was rebuffed by Qianlong. The balance began to shift after the affair of the Neptune in 1807, in which a Chinese customs officer had been killed in a drunken brawl by some sailors. There was a big trial in the English Hall but eventually the Chinese authorities had to back down and the culprits were fined £4 - the Chinese having realised how important the trade was to their own economy. Later in the nineteenth century China was referred to by the European nations as ‘the big melon’ - it was just there to be sliced up. References: Hervouët & Bruneau 1986 p29, No 1.32, the interior of a punch bowl with views of the Hongs, dated on the exterior of the bowl to 1832, now in The Bostonian Society, Old State House, Boston; Mudge 1986, p224, figs 373-4, the same bowl of 1832; Nadler 2001, p122-3, a punch bowl with similar decoration to this one; Cohen & Cohen (2003), p48, No 24, a hong bowl of 1780 and an outline history of the trade with Canton; Ibid. 2005, a bowl with an interior scene of the hongs, dated c. 1840; Conner 1986, many images of Canton; Cohen & Motley 2008, p17, a detail from this bowl; Sargent 1996, pp194, a painting by Tinqua, c. 1852, showing the Danish flag in this placing.

41 Cloisonné Model of a Recumbent Tiger Qianlong period (1736-1795) Length: 6 inches (15cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A fine and charmingly modelled cloisonné tiger enamelled in yellow, black and white with the tail curling round the left side and black floral roundels on the flanks. Tigers are very important in Chinse symbolism. In Daoism the tiger represents the yin and the dragon is the yang, the two forces combining to control the qi or energy of all things. The tiger represents the West and the dragon the East. The tiger is also a symbol of the military on account of its strength and ferocity and in Chinese art the tiger is often shown being hunted. He is the king of beasts and rules for a thousand years, turning white after five hundred. Yang Xiang, one of the twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety, threw himself in front of a tiger about to pounce on his father. Yang was consumed. In the Kangxi period it was believed that if you were killed by a tiger then your soul was enslaved to the beast unless an unfortunate substitute could be found. Many fanciful stories were written about them: in the Tang period Duan Chengzi (d. 863) described the ability of certain tigers to force a corpse to rise to its feet and undress itself before being consumed. In Chinese art Duan is sometimes depicted leaning against a tiger, half asleep.

In 1900 the tiger, Panthera tigris (Linnaeus 1758), had eight subspecies and a total population of about 100,000. Now three of those subspecies are extinct (Bali, Java, Caspian) and the total population is less than 7,500. Of the remaining five subspecies, four cling on in China in tiny populations: the South China tiger numbers less than 30 and is extinct in the wild; the Siberian, less than 400 with 30 in China; the Indo-Chinese, less than 1700 with 40 in China; the Indian Tiger, less than 4500 with 30 in China. And yet they are still hunted for body parts for traditional medicines.

42 Cloisonné Ice Chest & Covers Qianlong period (1736-1795) Size: 14 ¼ x 24 x 24 inches (36 x 61 x 61 cm) Provenance: a private American collection; ex Collection of Grace Kaler, Maine; with Paul Bernheimer, Boston, 1955; Kaufmann collection, Berlin, 1923; with Edgar Worch, Berlin; Collection of Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, German Ambassador to China (c. 1900) A rare, large Imperial square cloisonné enamel ice chest and covers of cuboidal form with outward tapered sides, horizontally divided into three sections by two raised and chased gilt-metal ribs, the main body finely decorated with yellow, iron-red, white and black enamels to depict stylized shou characters flanked by pairs of bats alternated with shou characters in roundels, against a geometric brocadeground of blue and turquoise enamels, the two removable flat covers similarly decorated with one section pierced with two cash symbols, applied on either side with pairs of gilt-metal handles suspended from raised bosses, the interior lined with pewter and wood.

These chests were used to contain ice and they were distrubuted thoughout the Imperial palaces in the hot summer, where they acted as a cooling system, the cold air coming out of the apertures in the top and being fanned by servants - or they were placed under dining tables. References: a related large cloisonné example of rectangular form supported by a cloisonné figure on each of the shorter sides, formerly from the Summer Palace, and now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, is illustrated by Bushell 1919 and again by Garner 1962, p. 71; a very similar example to this was in the Collection C. Ruxton and Audrey B. Love and a similar pair are in the Beijing Palace Museum.

43 Cloisonné Enamel Basin Nineteenth Century Chinese Height: 3 inches (8cm) Diameter: 7 ¼ inches (18.5cm ) Provenance: a private American collection. A basin of tapering cylindrical form with wide, flat everted rim, decorated in bright cloisonné enamels, the turquoise ground on the exterior reserving a colourful pattern of lotus blossoms alternating with bats, black medallions and further shou characters in archaistic seal script, the based decorated in cloisonné with a large central three-character hallmark in black, surrounded by linear spiraling tendrils. Basins of this form are unusual in Qing cloisonné enamels. Examples are known from the Ming Dynasty and blue and white porcelain examples of this form are recorded from the Ming and also one with Yongzheng mark and of the period has been sold at auction. The hallmark is translated as Tongshung Tang, "Hall of Accordance with the Natural Order," and it is more likely the hallmark of a private cloisonné manufacturing atelier.

Although cloisonné enamels suffered a severe decline in quality as the nineteenth century progressed, brilliant examples were still made such as this basin revealing a technical precision and control of the enameling. The surface of the present piece is evenly polished, the gilt wires are consistently thin, and the palette reflects an extended range of blended colors. The interior is also enamelled, a characteristic technique found on later cloisonné as the makers found this would strengthen the body of the piece. Of particular note is the beautiful calligraphy used in the hallmark and its integration in the design of the base.

44 Cloisonné Necklace Box Qianlong period (1736-1795) Diameter: 7 ¼ inches (18.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection.; ex collection of Juan Jose Amezaga Cloisonné bronze necklace box with a gilded collar, hinged and opening horizontally, decorated with three multifoil cartouches around the shou characters of Happiness and Prosperity. Reference: Compare such necklace box with three identical examples: one illustrated in Brinker & Lutz 1985, pl. 166; another in Brown 1980, pp. 78-79, pl. 31; the last one is illustrated by Sir Harry Garner 1962, pl. 638. Garner has defined a group of intimate objects characterized by a limited colour scheme, evidence of hand crafts-

manship, a preference for foliate shapes and the appearance of auspicious characters and dragons which recall those of late Zhou Dynasty in their curling forms. This necklace box clearly belongs to this group.

45 Imperial Cloisonné Square Vase Qianlong mark and period, 1736-1795 Height: 14 ½ inches (37cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A square section vase decorated on all four sides with the eight trigrams in bands of gilt metal on a blue green ground, the central panel on a turquoise ground with scrollwork in red, yellow, dark blue and pink; the base with an incised fourcharacter mark within a double square, Qianlong (1736-1795) and of the period. Reference: Brown 1980, No 33, a vase of similar form, but late 17th century, from the Claque collection.

Some in clandestine companies combine; Erect new stocks to trade beyond the line; With air and empty names beguile the town, And raise new credits first, then cry ’em down; Divide the empty nothing into shares, And set the crowd together by the ears. Daniel Defoe (1661-1731) (referring to the Mississippi Scheme 1719-20)

46 Imperial Cloisonné Gu Form Vase Qianlong mark and period, 1736-1795 Height: 11 ¾ inches (30cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A gu form cloisonné enamel vase, the corners having gilt flanges decorated with a meander scroll, the sides with scrolling lotus reserved on a turquoise ground, the inside of the vase similarly decorated. The base with a cast four-character mark of Qianlong within a double square (17361795) and of the period. Reference: Masterpieces of Chinese Enamel Ware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, 1971, plate 24, a similar vase is illustrated.

Statesman and patriot ply alike the stocks, Peeress and butler share alike the box, And judges job, and bishops bite the town, And mighty dukes pack cards for half-a-crown. Alexander Pope (1688-1744) Epistle to Lord Bathurst (referring to the South Sea Bubble, 1720)

47 Imperial Cloisonné Enamel Vase Qianlong mark and period, 1736-1795 Height: 8 inches (20cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A vase of slender pear shape, supported on a tall flared foot, the neck set with two gilt bands, and with loose gilded rings hanging from enamelled ruyi-head handles below the flared mouth rim. The foot decorated with scrolling lotus above a band of lappets, the body decorated with scrolling lotus flowers, leaves and stems. The neck is decorated with four gilded floral medallions between tied lotus stems, with scrolling lotus and a band of lappets below the mouth rim. All in fine red, white, green, yellow and lapis blue enamels on a turquoise ground. The gilt base with a four-character incised reign mark of the Qianlong Emperor within a double line square. A classical and formal example of the superb cloisonné enamel wares produced by the Imperial Palace Workshops during the Qianlong Emperor's long reign. Reference: Catalogue of Art Exhibition of Imperial Court in the Forbidden City, Qing Dynasty, page 112, a very similar vase from The Palace Museum is illustrated.

48 Imperial Cloisonné Enamel Vase Qianlong mark and period, 1736-1795 Height: 16 ½ inches (42cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A vase of baluster form, the ovoid body supported on a tall and flared foot, the slender flared neck set with two loose ring gilt-bronze ruyi-head handles. The body decorated with tied scrolling lotus between bands of ruyi-head lappets, the foot decorated with three bands of scrolling lotus and a band of lappets, the neck decorated with pairs of confronting gui dragons and Buddhist pearls below stylized pendant blades, between bands of scrolling lotus. All in red, black, white, green, yellow, pink and lapis blue enamels on turquoise and lapis blue grounds. The gilt base with a four-character incised reign mark of the Qianlong Emperor within a double line square. Exhibited at: Texas Collects Asia: China at The Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, July 12 - September 8, 2008 Reference: Catalogue of Art Exhibition of Imperial Court in the Forbidden City, Qing Dynasty, page 95, a very similar vase from The Palace Museum is illustrated.

49 Matched Cloisonné Altar Garniture Qing Dynasty, 18th Century Censer Height: 14 inches (35 cm) Vases Height: 12 inches (30.5cm) Provenance: a private American collection. Comprising a rectangular censer, fang ding, on four blade feet issuing from makara-heads, enamelled with archaistic taotie against leiwen scrolls, divided by notched flanges at the centres and corners, the domed cover with pierced scrollwork panels and a Buddhist lion finial; with a matched pair of fang gu, of waisted form with corner flanges, the cuboid body, splayed feet and trumpet neck with bovine taotie on each side.

50 Cloisonné Vase Qianlong mark and period, 1736-1795 Height: 5 inches (13cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A cloisonné enamel bottle shaped vase with two gilt bands at the shoulder, decorated with scrolling lotus in yellow, red and green on a turquoise ground, with two reserved openwork panels in moulded gilt bronze, with pairs of dragons. The base with stamped four character mark.

No 36. For a wheel of perpetual motion. Capital, one million. No 14. For trading in hair. No 17. For carrying on an undertaking of great advantage; but nobody to know what it is. Three examples of ‘Bubbles’ from 1720

51 Large Pair of Nodding-Head Figures Qianlong, Mid-18th Century Height: 21 ½ inches (55cm) Provenance: a private American collection. A magnificent and large pair of nodding-head figures, the man with an official's coat painted with swirling dragons over rocks and waves on a black ground, holding a snuff bottle in his right hand, the woman with a black robe with floral borders and underskirt, holding a fan in her right hand and a red handkerchief in her left hand. These are examples of the very best of this type of figure made in unfired painted clay. The heads are on balances with weights extending into the hollow bodies so that when nudged they nod elegantly. The faces are finely modelled and have individuality and character, which suggests an earlier date. Related Examples: Gyllensvärd 1972, different examples of this type at the royal palace at Drottningholm, Sweden, where over a hundred 'china dolls' were recorded in an inventory of 1777; Crossman 1991, p316, plate 112, four figures with one very similar to the lady here.

I don't need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better. Plutarch (46-119)

When you are old and grey and full of sleep, and nodding by the fire, take down this book and slowly read, and dream of the soft look your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep. William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

52 Dinner Plate Qianlong, c. 1775 Italian Market Diameter: 9 inches (23cm) An octagonal dinner plate with a central armorial, the rim with floral swags, the outer rim with an iron red petal band, the cavetto with an unusual border of repeated palmettes. This dinner plate comes from a service ordered by Uguccione III Bourbon del Monte, 12th Marquis Regent of Sorbello (1737 - 1816). He was the son of Guiseppe I (1690-1747) a successful and important diplomat for the King of Sardinia. Uguccione acquired the Palazzo Bourbon di Sorbello in Piazza Piccinino, Perugia, which he filled with fine art and objects, including this service, much of which remains there Guiseppe I, Marquis di Sorbello today.

Objects acquired from Cohen & Cohen are now in the following museum collections: British Museum, London Bristol Museum Jeffrye Museum, London Foundling Hospital Museum, London Groniger Museum, Groeningen Peabody Essex Museum, Salem Mass. Kenton Foundation, California New Orleans Museum Of Art Virginia Museum Of Art, Richmond Va East India Company Museum Lorient Sevres Museum, Paris Minneapolis Museum Winterthur Museum Norton Museum The Tea Museum, Hong Kong

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