Sotheby's to auction The Meiyintang Collection

Left: A Superb Large Famille-Rose Prunus and Rose Charger, Mark and Period of Yongzheng

Right: A Fine and Rare Famille-Rose 'Peach' Vase, Tianqiuping, Seal Mark and Period of Qianlong

Sotheby’s Hong Kong will sell the second part of a prestigious European collection of Chinese Art – The Meiyintang Collection on Oct 5, along with various-owner sale, expected to bring in over $150 million.

From the Meiyintang collection - possibly Europe’s grandest private collection of Chinese porcelain- Sotheby's will offer this season 40 pieces from the Ming and Qing dynasties, including a large early 15th century blue and white vase decorated with various fruits as well as a massive 18th century famille-rose vase decorated with peaches.

Blue and White Vase with Fruit Sprays, Meiping

Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period

Meiping decorated with fruit sprays are well known from the Yongle period. This large Yongle period meiping, with its elaborate decoration of ten fruit sprays, most likely predates the well-known smaller vases of this form. Only one companion piece to the present vase appears to be recorded, a covered meiping in the Palace Museum, Beijing. The present vase supplies vivid testimony to the success of these undertakings - its rich repertoire of fruit and flower motifs make it a masterpiece of Yongle porcelain art.

Blue and White ‘Dragon’ Moonflask

Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period

Moonflasks of this daring, massive form are testimony to the grand design concepts realised by the Ming imperial kilns during the Yongle reign, and the mighty dragons with their bold upturned snouts, bushy manes, writhing, scaly bodies, spiky spines and outsized claws reflect the pioneering spirit that reigned not only at the porcelain manufactories, but characterises the period as a whole. The impressive moonflask is one of only six known of this design and among the very few Ming vases of this form ever to come to the market.

Sotheby's will also auction a selection from two private Hong Kong collections, the Huaihaitang collection on the one hand which comprises a superb pair of famille-rose lime-green ground Qianlong vases, and on the other a group of exceptional enamels, comprising a unique massive Beijing enamel on copper censer made for the Yongzheng Emperor. Other highlights include a rare 14th century ‘dragon’ seal recarved for the Yongzheng Emperor that was passed down in the family of Emile Guimet and an exquisite pair of Beijing enamel boxes decorated with Western figures.