In brief: A private collection of 220 18th-19th Chinese enamel and porcelain works of art will be auctioned by Roseberys on October 29th, ahead of Asian Art in London. The collection includes rare Imperial 'mark and period' bowls.
In storage for a century, a remarkable cache of Chinese works of art comes for sale in London this autumn. Close to 700 pieces of primarily 18th and 19th century porcelain and enamel, including Imperial mark and period works, were recently discovered by Roseberys in storage in the UK. A single-owner sale of 220 lots will be held on October 29th.
Acquired by an Edwardian industrialist during extensive travels in the Far East from 1905-1930, the collection was assembled during the collapse of the Qing dynasty, a period when much of the Imperial collection was broken up and dispersed. The works of art were sent back to a UK country house where they were immediately put in storerooms, and only recently rediscovered by Roseberys.
The centrepiece of the collection is a series of Imperial ‘mark and period’ porcelain bowls made at the peak of the Qing dynasty during the reign of the emperor Qianlong (1735-96) and his successors Jiaqing (1796-1820) and Daoguang (1820-50). Today these hugely decorative ‘Chinese taste’ wares created for use in the court are much coveted by collectors in the Far East.
A standout group includes four Daoguang ‘floral’ bowls, featuring a yellow ground reserved for Imperial use and famille rose enamelled flowers, estimated at £60,000-£80,000 each. Another set of eight ‘dragon and phoenix’ bowls, symbolic of the emperor and empress, carries estimates ranging from £4,000 to £18,000.
Bill Forrest, Roseberys’ head of Chinese, Japanese, and Southeast Asian Art, first viewed the collection in 2021. He described being “speechless” in front of the storerooms where fine Qing dynasty porcelain had gathered dust since the 1920s.
For over one hundred years this collection has sat unseen in storerooms, so to say it is a privilege to handle it would be an understatement. We are fortunate to have handled many Imperial porcelains and works of art in recent years, but thirty Imperial pieces emerging from one private collection is truly extraordinary.”
Bill Forrest, Director & Head of Chinese, Japanese & South East Asian Art, Roseberys
The sale will spearhead Roseberys’ autumn series of Asian Art auctions, to be held on the 29th October ahead of their two-day auction of Chinese, Japanese & South East Asian Art on November 6-7. The sale is timed to coincide with the influx of buyers to the UK for the annual Asian Art in London event held in the venues around the capital from late October to November 8. Roseberys is among the 32 participants.