A pair of blanc de chine figure of hawks, Qing dynasty, 18th Century.

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.

Purchased from Guest & Gray, London, February 2010.

Purchased from the Clive D Collins Collection

Clive D Collins was a businessman and pioneer of polythene packaging materials in Britain. Part of his collection of Chinese ceramics, jades, lacquer and cloisonné, dating from the Tang to the Qing dynasty was sold at Christies in November 2009 and some at Christies South Kensington at the same time, provenance mentioned in the catalogues being Lodge, Ezekiel, Peter Harris, J Pilkington and R V Craig.

In “The Wrestling Boys” Gordon Lang illustrates one of four comparable birds that seem to be identifiable with the “4 China faulcons” described in the 1688 inventory made of Burghley House.