A lot that included four wucai ‘month cups’ - two with Kangxi and two with Qianlong marks - sold for £59,000 as part of a cache of Chinese porcelain offered by John Taylors in Louth on June 25.
The collection, assembled in China by a British serviceman, was offered in 15 lots with guides under £150 each by John Taylors in Louth on June 25.
A cardboard box labelled ‘broken crockery’ had sat in a loft in the village of Benniworth since a house move in 2002. The vendor had inherited it from her grandfather Brigadier RHA Kellie OBE MC, who had been stationed in China during the time of Boxer Rebellion in 1899-1901.
The collection comprised mainly 19th century material from the Daoguang (1821-50) to the Guangxu (1875–1908) periods. Some of pieces came with detailed handwritten notes recording the reign marks and the type of decoration – and occasionally the individual responsible for areas of damage (typically the vendor’s grandmother was to blame!).
Several damaged medallion bowls (the most identifiable wares from the Daoguang era made four-figure sums, all selling to Chinese buyers via thesaleroom.com.
However, the two most eagerly contested lots – both sold to a UK dealer in the room – were for mixed lots that included mark and period 18th century items.
A lot comprising 16 pieces of porcelain, estimated at £50-100 but sold at £59,000 included four 'month cups' of the type made at the imperial kilns in the last years of the Kangxi (1661-1722) period and beyond.
Painted in the wucai palette of underglaze blue and overglaze enamels, these depict floral decoration and couplets from Tang dynasty poems specific to the months of the lunar calendar. The cups in this mixed lot included two with Kangxi reign marks and two with Qianlong (1735-96) six-character seal marks.
Auctioneer James Laverack told ATG the hammer price is the second highest in Taylors’ long history (in 1998 the firm sold a late 19th century Venetian scene by Federico del Campo sold for £84,000) and a welcome boost following a move to larger town centre premises in January.
The same UK buyer bought a group lot that featured two iron red and gilt decorated dragon and shou symbol cup stands (tuozhan) with Qianlong marks. They sold together with three famille rose dishes for £35,000 against a guide of £40-80.
Two iron red and gilt decorated dragon and shou symbol cup stands (tuozhan) with Qianlong marks sold for £35,000 at John Taylors.
The vendor describes herself as “completely bamboozled" by the price the collection fetched at auction. "Every time I went up to get the Christmas decorations, I thought 'I must do something with that box'."
