Provenance
The collection of Charles Russell and Richard Bennet, ca. 1910.
Sotheby's London, 6 June 1935, 'The Property of Charles F. Russel, Esq', lot 94.
Bluett & Sons, London, acquired from the above.
An Australian private collection.
S. Marchant & Son, London, with their label to the rear.
The Baert - Devos Collection, Belgium, acquired from the above in 1999.
Exhibited & illustrated:
Illustrated in R.L. Hobson, 'Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections', fig. 325. (see attached scans)
Royal Academy of Art, London, included in their 1935-1936 'International Exhibition of Chinese Art' and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, cat. no. 1926, with a label to the reverse. (see attached scans)
Art Gallery of New South Wales, included in their 1977 exhibition of 'Ming and Ching' and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, cat. no. 27, with a label to the reverse.
Illustrated in J. Rogan, 'Antiques in Australia from Private Collections', p. 68-69.
S. Marchant & Son, London, included in their 1999 exhibition of 'Recent Acquisitions of Asian Art' and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, no. 5. Also illustrated in their 2025 publication 'One Hundred Years', Vol. I, pp. 464-465, fig. 865, where the author notes they have acquired it in 1998 from an English dealer, who had rediscovered it earlier.
Description
Finely modelled as the Daoist immortal Zhongli Quan seated on a rocky pedestal, holding his fan in his right hand, the robes richly painted in underglaze cobalt blue with a dragon pursuing a flaming pearl amidst scrolling clouds, lingzhi fungus, floral sprays and auspicious emblems. The base is decorated with a continuous rocky landscape interspersed with bamboo and floral motifs above a band of pao shan hai shui waves, the underside incised with the two-character mark shi quan (‘Rock Spring’).
Zhongli Quan is one of the most revered members of the Eight Daoist Immortals and is traditionally depicted carrying a feather fan endowed with the power to revive the dead and confer immortality. During the Jiajing reign, when the emperor famously embraced Daoism and sponsored the production of religious imagery, figures of Daoist immortals became an important category of Jingdezhen porcelain.
Reference:
A closely comparable example was sold at Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisals, New York, 21 September 2023, lot 363, for USD 37,800 (link). A near-identical example is in the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indianapolis, accession no. 60.97 (link). Another closely comparable example is in the Frits Lugt collection, illustrated by Christiaan Jörg, 'Chinese and Japanese Porcelain in the Frits Lugt Collection', 2023, pp. 72-73, no. 34.
Lot 19
Jiajing
H.: 38,9 cm
Estimation
€ 25.000,00 – € 50.000,00
Provenance
The collection of Charles Russell and Richard Bennet, ca. 1910.
Sotheby's London, 6 June 1935, 'The Property of Charles F. Russel, Esq', lot 94.
Bluett & Sons, London, acquired from the above.
An Australian private collection.
S. Marchant & Son, London, with their label to the rear.
The Baert - Devos Collection, Belgium, acquired from the above in 1999.
Exhibited & illustrated:
Illustrated in R.L. Hobson, 'Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections', fig. 325. (see attached scans)
Royal Academy of Art, London, included in their 1935-1936 'International Exhibition of Chinese Art' and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, cat. no. 1926, with a label to the reverse. (see attached scans)
Art Gallery of New South Wales, included in their 1977 exhibition of 'Ming and Ching' and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, cat. no. 27, with a label to the reverse.
Illustrated in J. Rogan, 'Antiques in Australia from Private Collections', p. 68-69.
S. Marchant & Son, London, included in their 1999 exhibition of 'Recent Acquisitions of Asian Art' and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, no. 5. Also illustrated in their 2025 publication 'One Hundred Years', Vol. I, pp. 464-465, fig. 865, where the author notes they have acquired it in 1998 from an English dealer, who had rediscovered it earlier.