Rare Qing Dynasty enamel bowl set for auction in April

The bowl was first fired plain at the imperial factories in Jingdezhen, hailed as the "porcelain capital" in East China's Jiangxi province. It was then carted off to the court workshops in Beijing for the second stage of processing, enameling and firing to completion.

Chows says the choice of floral patterns suggests a possibility that the bowl was painted by Christian missionaries, who at the time served in the court and spread Western knowledge of science and art.

According to Chow, the combination of daffodils with roses, hibiscus and buttercups, Turk's cap lilies and poppies on the bowl exhibits more of a Western flair, while a classical Chinese manner favors flowers with auspicious implications, and they should be arranged in the order of seasons.

The bowl to be auctioned has been transited among major collectors.

It has been kept for 30 years by the Idemitsu Museum of Arts in Tokyo, which was built in the 1960s to house and display the collection of Japanese petroleum entrepreneur Sazo Idemitsu (1885-1981).