Bleu de Huế porcelain bowl – £20,000 at Roseberys.
A particular area of collecting focus are the so-called bleu de Huế porcelain wares that were made in China to Vietnamese designs. Some of these pieces (named after Huế, the Nguyen capital and site of the Forbidden Purple City) include the bespoke marks of royal family members and court officials.
The Asian art sale at Roseberys London (25% buyer’s premium) on November 8 included a 7in (18cm) bowl painted to the exterior with a dragon and a phoenix facing the flaming pearl among waves and clouds.]
It had a single-character ‘nhut’ (sun) mark dated to the Dực Tông reign (1847-83).
Part of the collection of British artist and muralist John Armstrong (1928-2004), it was guided at £800-1200 but sold at £20,000.
