Lot 106. The Leshantang Collection. A rare and large blue and white 'dragon' bowl, Phags-pa mark and period of Zhengde (1506-1521). 22,8 cm. Lot Sold 5,588,000 HKD (Estimate 500,000 - 700,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2024

finely potted with deep rounded sides rising from a high, slightly tapered foot to a flared rim, the exterior painted with two five-clawed dragons soaring amidst undulating lotus scrolls and above a ruyi border encircling the foot, the interior centred with a matching dragon medallion, the base inscribed with a four-character reign mark in Phags-pa script within a double circle, which can be phonetically read as Zhizheng nianzhi.

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 13th November 1990, lot 137.

Literature: Zhongguo mingtao Riben xunhui zhan. Gangtai mingjia shoucang taoci jingpin [Exhibition of famous Chinese ceramics touring Japan. Fine ceramics from private Hong Kong and Taiwanese Collections], Museum of History, Taipei, 1992, p. 130.
The Leshantang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Taipei, 2005, pl. 10.
Lü Chenglong, Zhongguo gutaoci kuanzhi, Beijing, 2023, fig. 557.

Exhibited: Chūgoku meitō ten: Chūgoku tōji 2000-nen no seika [Exhibition of important Chinese ceramics: Essence of two thousand years of Chinese ceramics], Nihonbashi Takashimaya, Tokyo, and six other locations in Japan, 1992, cat. no. 87.
Ching Wan Society Millennium Exhibition, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 2000, cat. no. 91.

Note: This finely painted bowl, inscribed with a highly unusual Phags-pa mark, is a rare and intriguing specimen that is unique to the brief reign of the Zhengde Emperor (r. 1506-21), who is known for his indulgent lifestyle and zealous fascination with Lamaism. The peculiar and sporadic presence of Phags-pa inscription (the actual use of which was short-lived and limited to about a hundred years in the 12th and 13th centuries during the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty) on 16th-century ware has captured the attention of scholars and connoisseurs alike, including Mr Kot See-for of Tianminlou, leading to extensive academic discussions on the interpretation of the mark. The master of Leshantang has very likely taken notice of the importance of these Phags-pa-marked Zhengde wares, and as early in the 1990s when the debate was still ongoing, he has acquired the only two known Zhengde Phags-pa pieces available in private hands as of now.

Extant examples that bear this mark are incredibly rare, with a total of only seven recorded examples including the present bowl, and five of which are now preserved in important museums. Two of them are housed in the Beijing Palace Museum, one of which (d. 22.8 cm, accession no. xin-107307) is nearly identical to the present bowl, and the other is a blue and white ‘dragon among turbulent waves’ dish of comparable size (d. 23.7 cm); see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain With Underglazed Red (I), Hong Kong, 2000, pls 62 and 70. The same mark is seen on two large dishes painted with similar dragon and lotus motif, one is housed in the Freer Gallery of Art (d. 21.6 cm, accession no. F1962.17a-b), and the other was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 23rd March 1993, lot 720 (d. 26.4 cm) and subsequently entered the Leshantang Collection. Besides these surviving blue and white examples, this Phags-pa mark is also found on a rare and technically demanding group of Zhengde wares - yellow-ground wares with slip-trailed and green-enamelled dragons - see a large bowl in the British Museum (d. 23.3 cm, accession no. 1926,1124.1), illustrated and discussed by R.L. Hobson in 'Chinese Porcelain Fragments from Aidhab and Some Bashpa Inscriptions', The Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1926-27, pl. VI, fig. 2 and p. 21; and a related stem cup in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (accession no. 1972.43.6). 

A very small group of discarded examples and base shards bearing this Phags-pa mark was excavated at the Ming imperial kilns site in Jingdezhen. Some are in the blue and white palette with the iconic Zhengde motif of dragon writhing among waves or lotus, others are unfinished products left in the biscuit-fired state with slip-trailed dragons and an underglaze-blue Phags-pa mark. Among the rare, excavated specimens is a unique fragment of a blue-ground yellow-enamelled bowl bearing this mark in underglaze-blue within a yellow-enamelled double circle. For illustrations, see Ceramic Finds from Jingdezhen Kilns, University of Hong Kong Fung Ping Shan Museum, Hong Kong, 1992, cat. no. 253; and Lü Chenglong, Zhongguo gutaoci kuanzhi, Beijing, 2023, pp. 287-292, figs 559-565. 

There were various interpretations of this Phags-pa mark in the past and it is now widely accepted that the mark reads phonetically zhizheng nian zhi (‘made in the reign of Zhizheng’), which interestingly makes reference to the reign of the last emperor of the Yuan dynasty. The Phags-pa script itself was created by the influential Tibetan lama Drogön Chögyal Phags-pa, after whom the script was named. It was developed under the order of Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan dynasty, as a unified script to represent Chinese sounds in Tibetan characters. While briefly adopted as the official script of administration, it was not much used in China after the collapse of the Mongol empire. The potters in Jingdezhen likely did not understand this abandoned script, making it challenging to accurately reproduce the mark, which consequently further complicated the interpretations of the mark.

The intriguing reappearance of this abandoned script on 16th-century wares can be attributed to the Zhengde Emperor's fervent fascination with Lamaism. It has been proposed that the emperor commissioned these wares as lavish gifts for the lamas or for those who were invited to reside in the infamous ‘Leopard’s Chamber’ in Beijing. Historical records also mention unparalleled extravagance when it came to indulging these influential figurines.

Sotheby's. The Leshantang Collection (II) – Treasures of Chinese Art from the Tsai I-Ming Collection, Hong Kong, 9 April 2024.