SET OF FOUR FAMILLE ROSE VASES
20TH CENTURY
£10,584
Auction: 17 May 2024 from 10:00 BST
Description
二十世紀 ‘中國景德鎮製’款 粉彩山水圖瓶（共四件）
comprising: a pair of baluster vases and a pair of meiping vases, all similarly painted with shanshui landscape, the base inscribed with a six-character ‘Zhong Guo Jing De Zhen Zhi’ mark (4)
Dimensions
heights: 11.7cm to 13.1cm
Provenance
The Estate of Sir John and Lady Clare Keswick at Portrack House, Dumfriesshire.
Sir John Henry Keswick, KCMG (1906–1982) was an influential Scottish businessman in China and Hong Kong. He was the tai-pan of Jardine, Matheson & Co., the leading British trading firm in the Far East, and had established friendships with many Chinese politicians, including Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China, and Madame Soong Ching-ling, wife of Sun Yat-sen during his stay in China. He was also a representative of the Special Operations Executive, a British intelligence service during the Second World War. Sir John spoke fluent Chinese. He was a Chinese art collector, particularly contemporary paintings.
He married Clare Mary Alice Cynthia Catherine Celia Elwes (1905–1998) in 1940 and had a child Margaret Keswick (1941–1995) who founded Maggie's Centres for those suffering from cancer.