Three Chinese porcelain English-decorated teapots and two covers 1st half 18th century

Three Chinese porcelain English-decorated teapots and two covers 1st half 18th century, originally decorated in underglaze blue, one with willow in a landscape, one with peony and chrysanthemum, the other with vine and a squirrel, later decorated in thick polychrome enamels with long-tailed birds perched on rockwork, large sprays of peony and other Oriental flowers, two largely highlighted in a sympathetic manner, and a small Chinese bowl very similarly later-decorated with vases of flowers beneath a scrolled diaper rim, 17.5cm max. (6)

Provenance: the Helen Espir Collection, Nos. 470, 844, 477 and 611.

Illustrated: Helen Espir, European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain, p.226, pl.27.

The famille rose palette was introduced on Chinese porcelain c.1720, and it is these wares of the Yongzheng and early Qianlong period which these English decorators were copying in the 1730s and '40s.