Kangxi blue & white porcelains @ Sotheby's, Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 23 Mar 2010.,New York

A blue and white 'lotus' bowl. Kangxi mark and period. photo Sotheby's

the exterior decorated in the Ming style with a lotus scroll in rich cobalt-blue above a lappet band around the base, the interior with a central lotus medallion - diameter 6 3/8 in., 16.3 cm. Estimate 4,000—6,000 USD. Lot Sold 13,750 USD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's New York, 22nd March 1995, lot 283

A rare blue and white dated inkstone. Dated ad 1694 and of the period. photo Sotheby's

of circular form, one side with recessed biscuit center, the reverse with a pair of phoenix enclosing the inscribed medallion, the raised outer band painted with the 'Eight Auspicious Emblems', the sides with three dragons in mutual pursuit of 'flaming pearls' - diameter 6 1/8 in., 15.5 cm. Estimate 5,000—7,000 USD. Lot Sold 8,750 USD

PROVENANCE: Christie's Hong Kong, 16th and 17th January 1989, lot 622.
Christie's New York, 21st March 2002, lot 209.

NOTE: Dated to the jiaxu year of the reign of Kangxi (1694). The mark reads Da Qing Kangxi jia xu nian zhi with the character fu (happiness) in addition to a seal and artemisia leaf. It also gives the name of Wu Liutao who may have commissioned the inkstone.

A large blue and white baluster jar and cover. Qing Dynasty, Kangxi Period. photo Sotheby's

the baluster body painted with a continuous frieze of stylized scrolling lotus, all between a band of ruyi-head lapets at the shoulder and base, the knopped cover further painted with floral sprays (2) - height 25 in., 63 cm. Estimate 8,000—10,000 USD. Lot Sold 8,125 USD

A blue and white bottle vase. Qing dynasty, Kangxi period. photo Sotheby's

the bulbous body and cylindrical neck finely painted with three registers of floral scrolls, all supported on a small tapered foot - height 7 3/4 in., 19.7 cm. Estimate 7,000—9,000 USD. Lot Sold 6,875 USD

PROVENANCE: Spink & Son, London (until 1967).
Bluett & Son, London.
F. Gordon Morrill Collection.
Imperial Oriental Art, New York (until 2006).

NOTE: Compare a blue and white bottle vase of the same type, illustrated in S. Marchant & Son, Recent Acquisitions, 2006, cat. no. 56. The footnote refers to another example in the Rijksmuseum, published in Christiaan J.A. Joerg, Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: The Ming and Qing Dynasties, Amsterdam, 1997, no. 298.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. 23 Mar 2010. New York www.sothebys.com