Pair of Chinese Export Porcelain Chestnut Baskets, c. 1800

For more information on the phenomenal story behind these baskets, read this post.

The elaborate piercing was particularly difficult to achieve, with a high failure rate in firing. As a result, relatively few examples survive.

Compare an example in the collection of the St. Louis Museum of Art: object no. 27:1970a,b.

Provenance: Christie’s New York, “The Peter H B Frelinghuysen Jr Collection of Chinese Export Porcelain”, 24 Jan 2012, lot 2 Christie’s New York, “Chinese Export Art”, 24 Jan 2005, lot 265

Literature: Sir Charles Lawson, Memories of Madras, Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1905