AN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND COPPER-RED ‘PRUNUS’ BOWL QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD |

the widely flared sides rising to a slightly everted rim, the exterior with two pendent  underglaze-blue prunus branches laden with bright copper-red and slip-modeled blossoms beneath a fringe of bamboo leaves at the rim, the interior centered with a medallion of a further prunus with copper-red blooms, a band of prunus reserved against a blue 'cracked ice' ground at the interior rim, the base with an illegible seal mark, coll. no. 1338. 

Collection of George (1911-1989) and Cornelia Wingfield Digby.
Sotheby's Olympia, 12th June 2003, lot 1121.
Marchant, London, 2005.

The bowl is in overall good condition. There is a very small glazed-over potting flaw to the rim and two short glaze cracks on the exterior above the base.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present bowl is exceptional for its generous size and successful bright tones of both the underglaze cobalt blue and copper red.  A nearly identical bowl is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam and illustrated in Christiaan J. A. Jörg, Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, London, 1977, pl. 125b, together with another closely related example (ibid., pl. 125). A bowl decorated in the same technique and motif, but of slightly smaller size, without rim decoration and bearing an apocryphal Chenghua mark in the Palace Museum Collection is illustrated in Chen Runmin, Qing Shunzhi Kangxi chao qinghua ci [Qing Dynasty Blue and White Porcelains of the Shunzhi and Kangxi Periods], Beijing, 2005, pl. 140.