A incised white-glazed bowl. Ming dynasty, Yongle period & a 'lianzi' white-glazed bowl. Mark and period of Xuande

A fine and rare incised white-glazed bowl. Ming dynasty, Yongle period. photo Sotheby's

the deep rounded sides rising elegantly from the thick straight foot before gently flaring at the rim, finely incised on the exterior with large detached sprays of lotus, camellia, rose and peony with their respective buds, the interior with a medallion of two pomegranates on a leafy branch, applied overall with an opaque milk-white glaze displaying a light bluish-grey tint along the incised design. 16.8 cm., 6 in. Est. 1,500,000—2,000,000 HKD - Sold 1,820,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's New York, 4th June 1982, lot 215.
Sotheby's London, 17th November 1999, lot 750.

NOTE; Two slightly larger bowls with similar incised designs from the Kempe collection in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, are illustrated in The World's Great Collections. Oriental Ceramics, vol.8, Tokyo, 1982, nos. 206 and 210. Compare also a smaller undecorated white bowl from the early Yongle stratum of the Ming Imperial kiln site, included in the exhibition Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1989, cat.no.16.

A fine large 'lianzi' white-glazed bowl. Mark and period of Xuande. photo Sotheby's

finely-potted, the rounded sides rising from a short slightly tapered foot, the exterior faintly incised in the body with two rows of lotus petals radiating from the foot, below a band on incised waves encircling the mouth, the interior incised with a pair of pomegranates sprigs enclosed within a double-circle medallion on the base, the mouth encircled by a register of key-fret, all beneath a white glaze, the base with a six-character mark in underglaze-blue within double-circles - 20.5 cm., 8 1/8 in. Est. 800,000—1,000,000 HKD - Sold 1,160,000 HKD

NOTE: Compare a very similar bowl from the Kempe Collection, illustrated in Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, pl. 676 and later sold in our Paris rooms, 12th June 2008, lot 44.

The Xuande lianzi bowl is based on the Yongle bowl of the same proportions. Compare a Yongle period bowl from the Kempe Collection with a single tier of lotus petals, illustrated in ibid. pl. 686, and later sold in our Paris rooms, 12th June 2008, lot 40. And another one from the Donald S. Morrison collection sold in our New York rooms, 4th June 1982, lot 214 and again in these rooms 17th May 1988, lot 36.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 08 Oct 09. Hong Kong www.sothebys.com