Lot 624. A wucai 'dragon and phoenix' dish, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1620), fugui jiaqi mark; 16 cm. Estimate 30,000 - 60,000 HKD. © Sotheby's 2024

the interior with a large medallion enclosing a dragon and phoenix soaring around a 'flaming pearl' amidst floral sprays, the motif repeated around the cavetto, the underside with four large lotus blooms borne on leafy scrolls, the base with an underglaze-blue seal mark reading fugui jiaqi (fine vessel for the rich and honourable), Japanese wood box.

Literature: Fujio Koyama et al (eds), Sekai Toji Zenshu/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 14: Ming, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 264.
'Kosometsuke Shonzui ten yori [Highlights from The Blue and White Tea Ceramics of Japanese Admiration]', Tosetsu, The Ceramic Society of Japan, September 1981, no. 342, no. 5.

Exhibited: Chugoku Min Shin Bijutsu ten mokuroku/Chinese Arts of the Ming and Ch'ing Periods, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1963, cat. no. 373.
Arakawa Toyozo sensei Ogaya Chikuyo Sanjunen kinen Sakuto-ten Shukuga chakai [Memorial tea ceremony-30th anniversary of Mr Arakawa Toyozo's kiln in Ogaya], Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, 1964.
Kosometsuke to Shonzui ten [The Blue and White Tea Ceramics of Japanese Admiration], Takashimaya, Yokohama, 1981, cat. no. 127.

Sotheby's. Chinese Art through the Eye of Sakamoto Gorō: A Selection I, Hong Kong, 29 October 2024