ASHBURN, Va. – A pair of yellow-ground ‘peony’ bowls raced away from a $100-$200 estimate to hammer for $80,000 ($102,400 with buyer’s premium) at Oakridge Auction Gallery on March 15. They came for sale from a gentleman in Tacoma, Washington and a collection formed by relatives in China during the early 1900s. All 227 lots of Chinese works of art in the sale were offered without reserve.

Bowls of this kind are among the most recognizable porcelains of the Daoguang (1820-1850) period. Once known as ‘Peking’ bowls or ‘medallion’ bowls, these 4.5in bowls with flaring rims were already popular during the reign of the Jiaqing (1796-1820) emperor, but reached their peak both in quantity, quality, and variety during the second quarter of the 19th century. Numerous ground colors and decorating themes are known.

The decoration to this pair combines the ‘imperial’ yellow ground with three large famille rose peony blossoms among a leafy meander that recall the Kangxi falangcai wares from a century before. Both have a six-character Daoguang mark in underglaze blue to the base and were sold with associated wooden stands and a storage box. They were ‘in exemplary condition’, according to the lot notes.

While the price was some 800 times the published low estimate, the auction house did point to other examples in major institutional collections in its cataloging. A number have appeared on the market in recent times, including the Daoguang yellow-ground peony bowl that sold for $69,300 at Sotheby’s New York in March 2022.