A blue and white bowl, Qing dynasty, Kangxi (1662-1722).

Purchased from the Jarras Collection, Christie’s King Street, June 1990, Lot 23.

The Avalon Collection.

This collection, which in the main focuses on the Interregnum and Kangxi periods has been both carefully and sensitively formed over the last twenty-five years. The collector, a member of the English Oriental Ceramic Society, has assembled the collection with an eye for provenance whilst purchasing from old European collections, well-established antique dealers and at auction.

Academically, the pieces have been well researched both in terms of their symbolism and narrative themes. In many instances the imagery on the pieces has been referenced to episodes in the romantic and historic novels of Chinese mythology, which were used extensively in the decoration of seventeenth century Chinese porcelain.

Formed over ten years before the sales, the first part of which, comprising 113 lots, was sold by Christie’s in June 1990, with provenances cited in the catalogue of E T Chow, E Carew-Shaw, Sir Michael Butler, The Hatcher Collection, Martin-Hurst and Mottahedeh. The second part was sold in October 1991 at Christie’s Hong Kong.

For an identical bowl see the Victoria and Albert Museum Collection, London, c 942 – 1910 and “ The Catalogue of the George Eumorfopoulos Collection of Chinese, Korean and Persian Pottery and Porcelain – Volume V”, by R L Hobson, ref E40 Plate 9.

For another identical bowl, see the Metropolitan Museum Collection, New York, no 79.2.403.

There are five similar bowls in the collection formed by Augustus The Strong at Dresden and listed in the inventory of 1721.