Leading the sale is an exceedingly rare Chenghua Blue and White ‘Palace Bowl’. It represents a unique version of the design, with a larger number of melons than usual and is estimated at £4-6 million.
One of the greatest collections of Chinese porcelain left in private hands will come up at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on April 6. Put together in the mid-20th century by Roger Pilkington, one of the most eminent and active collectors of his day, the collection spans the heights of 1,000 years of Chinese porcelain production, from the Tang through to the Ming and on to the Qing dynasties. The collection captures all the greatest achievements in the field and tells the story of the evolution of Chinese porcelain and Chinese history. Put together in a single decade beginning in the late 1950’s it is estimated to make a combined total of more than £20 million sterling.
The highlight is a group of porcelains produced during the Ming dynasty, comprising pieces from the seminal period in the early 15th century when creativity at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen was at its zenith. This is complemented by a small group of jade vessels and carvings from the Imperial workshops within the grounds of the Forbidden City, made for the court of Emperor Qianlong in the latter half of the 18th century.
Nicolas Chow, Deputy Chairman, Sotheby’s Asia, International Head and Chairman, Chinese Works of Art, said: “The Pilkington Collection contains extraordinarily rare items, of a kind seldom seen together on the market. This time capsule captures a seminal moment in the history of collecting when connoisseurship in the field reached new heights of sophistication, and when collectors’ appetites for the very best were serviced by a handful of brilliant dealers”.
The collection will be on view in London on January 17-18.
