Two fine purple-splashed 'Jun' bubble bowls. Song Dynasty

A fine purple-splashed 'Jun' bubble bowl. Song Dynasty. photo courtesy Sotheby's

well potted, with steeply rounded sides on a neatly finished foot incurved towards the rim, the interior applied with a finely bubbled milky-blue glaze, vividly splashed in lavender-blue shading to purplish-red in five swirls, the exterior with a striking crescent-shaped splash amidst shadowy streaks, pooling above the foot to reveal the chocolate color ware, draining to a buff at the rim; diameter 3 3/8 in., 8.5 cm. Estimate 120,000—150,000 USD. Lot Sold 122,500 USD

NOTE: Among the genre of Song dynasty ceramics, 'Jun' bubble bowls are perhaps the most tactile and personal of items, as the small rounded sides and unctuous glaze allow the bowls to conform perfectly to the hands.

Similar examples are included in some of the world's most prestigious collections of Chinese ceramics, including one in the Palace Museum in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelain of the Song Dynasty (I), Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 222. Compare also a 'Jun' bubble bowl in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, originally also from the Eumorfopoulos collection, illustrated in Rose Kerr, Song Dynasty Ceramics, London, 2004, pl. 26. Two famous 'Jun' bubble bowls from the Edward T. Chow collection, perhaps the best extant examples, both sold in our London rooms, 16th December 1980, lots 264 and 265, and again in these rooms, the former on 19th May 1987, lot 209, and later in the T.T. Tsui collection; the latter on 7th June 2000, lot 93.

According to Rose Kerr, ibid., p. 34, the splashes found on 'Jun' wares are made with the application of copper brushwork to dry glazes in broad strokes or washes, which then merged with the bluish 'Jun' glazes at full heat. This copper painting provided a striking contrast to the thick bright blue glaze beneath giving each vessel decorated in this manner its unique design.

A fine purple-splashed 'Jun' bubble bowl. Song Dynasty. photo courtesy Sotheby's

with steeply rounded sides and contracted rim, springing from a neatly finished foot of wedge-shaped section, covered on the exterior with a pale-blue glaze and vividly decorated with several 'fish-like' splashes in lavender-blue, the interior liberally splashed with irregular blushes of magenta and lavender, drained at the rim to a deep buff and pooling short of the foot, later applied with Japanese gold lacquer restoration; diameter 3 1/2 in., 8.8 cm. Estimate 60,000—80,000 USD. Lot Sold 62,500 USD

NOTE: It is rare to find a 'jun' bubble bowl with this striking combination of intense and rich splashes on the interior and the unusual arrangement of smaller splashes on the exterior, reminiscent of the bowl from the Collection of Sir David Home, Bt., exhibited at the Oriental Ceramics Society exhibition of Sung Dynasty Wares, Chun and Brown Glazes, London, 1952, Catalogue no. 157 and sold in our Hong Kong rooms 24th November 1987, lot 5. For intensity of coloration, compare the two extraordinary bowls from the Edward T. Chow Collection sold in our London rooms, 16th December 1980, lots 264 and 265, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, the former on 19th May 1987, lot 209, and later in the T.T. Tsui Collection, the latter on 7th June 2000, lot 93

Sotheby's. Fine Ceramics and works of Art. 15 Sept 2010. New York www.sothebys.com