Lot 152 , A Chinese blue and white ‘ling long’ decorated ‘prunus’ bowl and saucer dish, 19th century

A Chinese blue and white ‘ling long’ decorated ‘prunus’ bowl and saucer dish, 19th century, each piece painted with a bird amid prunus branches, the blossoms with Ling Long ‘rice grain technique windows’, apocryphal Qianlong seal mark to base, diameter 18cm and 20cm, firing crack to dish

Provenance -
Formerly in the private collection of (Michael) Ngô Ðình Kha (1856–1914), Minister of Rites and Grand Chamberlain under Emperor Thành Thái of the Nguyen Dynasty, Hue, Vietnam. The pieces passed down through direct descent to his daughter, (Elizabeth) Ngô Ðình Thi Hiep (1903–2005) and her husband Nguyen Van Am, residing in the Phu Cam parish of Hue. They were then entrusted by Ngô Ðình Thi Hiep directly to her daughter, (Bernadette) Nguyen Thi Niem (1932-1997), who successfully transported the pieces upon her departure from Vietnam in 1964 amidst the post-coup political transitions. They then passed down by direct maternal inheritance from Nguyen Thi Niem to the current owner, the great-granddaughter of Ngo Ðình Kha.
Kha was a high-ranking imperial mandarin and royal confidant to Emperor Thành Thái, as well as co-founder of the  Quoc Hoc – Hue High School for the Gifted. A rare Catholic mandarin who bridged traditional Confucian scholarship and Western education, he famously lost his position in 1907 after refusing to sign the French-backed petition to depose the emperor.  His historic Hue household is where his children grew up, including future president (Jean-Baptiste) Ngô Ðình Diem (1901-1963).
£100-200

Condition:
Both a little grubby and would benefit from a clean, some scratching to the well on the interior, the dish with some slight staining to one area. The dish with an over glazed firing crack and a tiny nibble to the edge. The bowl has a hairline crack and a burst bubble to the glaze on the edge of the foot. Both with typical minor glazing imperfections.

Sold for £950