CHINESE IRON-RED-DECORATED 'DRAGON' CUP
QING DYNASTY, GUANGXU MARK AND OF THE PERIOD
£5,796
Auction: 16 May 2025 from 09:00 BST
Description
清光緒 青花「大清光緒年製」六字楷書款 礬紅彩雙龍趕珠紋仰鐘杯
delicately potted, steep sides rising to a slightly flared rim, painted on the exterior with two striding dragons above foaming waves, all between double-line borders at the rim and on the foot, the base inscribed with a six-character Guangxu mark in underglaze blue
Dimensions
5.9cm diameter
Provenance
From the collection of Colonel Harold Vernon Prynne, CBE (1869-1954). A military surgeon who served in China in the 1900s. Thence by direct descent.
Born at Gravesend on 26 November 1869, Prynne qualified from the Middlesex Hospital in 1892, and was commissioned a Surgeon-Lieutenant in the RAMC on 29 January 1894 and promoted Captain on 29 January. He saw active service in China in 1900, was mentioned in dispatches and won the medal and clasp. He was promoted Major on 29 October 1905.
During the First World War, he was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel on 1 March 1915, and temporary Colonel while ADMS of a Division on 14 May 1916. He was awarded the DSO in 1917 and created CBE in 1919. He had been mentioned in dispatches four times and was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with a gold star.
After retiring from the Army he served as chief medical officer to the Post Office and was elected an Officer of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. He died in March 1954.
哈羅德‧弗農‧佩恩上校（Harold Vernon Prynne, 1869-1954）舊藏。佩恩上校於二十世紀初在中國從事軍醫時入藏此杯，後家族遞藏。
佩恩於1869年11月26日出生於英格蘭格雷夫森德，1892年從米德爾塞克斯醫院畢業後於1894年1月29日被任命為RAMC的外科醫生中尉，並於1月29日晉升為上尉。1900年間在中國服役。1905年10月29日，他晉升為少校。第一次世界大戰期間，他於1915年3月1日晉升為中校，並於1916年5月14日晉升為師ADMS臨時上校。從軍隊退役後，他擔任郵局首席醫療官，並被選為耶路撒冷聖約翰勳章。於1954年 3月去世。
Footnote
Highly comparable examples, Guangxu mark and of the period, are sold in the following sales: Sotheby's New York, 28 March 2023, lot 898; Sotheby's Hong Kong, 26 May 2021, lot 364; Bonhams Los Angeles, 8 October 2024, lot 192.