A Chinese cloisonné and champlevé enamel "Wan Shou Wu Jiang" bowl 万寿无疆景泰蓝碗 Qianlong period, circa 1780 ??? ?1780?

The circular bowl on vertical foot, the exterior with four roundels reading wan shou wu jiang ('a long life without end') in seal script on a cobalt blue ground, all surrounded by lotus scroll, below a border of archaic kui-dragon scrolls, lotus lappet border above the foot, the underside incised with a four-character mark, zi sun yong bao ('treasured forever by sons and grandsons') in a double square, traces of gilding.

Dia: 5 in.

NOTE:

According to Qing court records, in the 45th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, a large number of bowls and dishes of this pattern were produced for the Emperor's 70th birthday celebration. For three related dishes in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see Chuimei Ho and Bennet Bronson, "Splendors of China's Forbidden City, the Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong", London, 2004, p. 198, nos. 241-243, where they are dated 1790. For other related dishes, see the slightly larger bowl from the collection of David B. Peck III, sold at Christie's, New York, September 17, 2014, lot 625; a bowl sold at Christie's London, November 9, 2015, lot 125, a dish, sold at Christie's London, November 6, 2017, lot 50, and a bowl, sold Christie's New York, March 24, 2022, lot 1024

PROVENANCE:

Private Collection, Manhattan

Thence by descent