A FINE AND LARGE FAMILLE ROSE 'CHINESE HUNTING SCENE' PUNCH BOWL Qianlong period, circa 1740 Boldly enameled all around the exterior with a continuous scene of Chinese hunters on horseback, depicted in effect as large as the bowl's painting surface would accommodate, the primary figure in the continuous procession of equestrian sportsmen and servants being an official wearing his recognizable official hat suspending a peacock-feather pendant, many of the other hunters laden with their bow and arrow, and one carrying a rifle, all chasing visible deer and a rabbit, the figures filling the space so densely from rim to base that no room is left for any border decoration. 15 1/2in (39cm) diam Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1740年 粉彩《中國狩獵圖》潘趣酒碗 Published Cohen & Cohen, Tyger Tyger!, Antwerp, 2016, pp. 40-41, no. 17 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Tyger Tyger!》，安特衛普，2016年，頁40-41，圖版編號17 Although bowls depicting European hunt scenes were very popular in the West and frequently reproduced with varying degrees of accuracy some contemporaneous British (and other) engravings of fox-hunting scenes, it is very rare to find a domestic Chinese version of that consuming rural passion extending to a representation of animal-hunting in China. It is well known that the 18th century Imperial Court in China greatly valued and enjoyed hunting expedition in China. Indeed, hunting palaces such as the Northern one at Jehol were maintained for the express purpose of giving members of the Imperia Court and their retinues some good outdoors exercise and an opportunity to polish their martial skills by chasing a much wider range of wild game than was the tradition in Europe. References: Osterley Park (National Trust), West London, an identical bowl.